Corrigendum: Impact on clinical practice of a non-invasive gene expression melanoma rule-out test: 12-month followup of negative test results and utility data from a large US registry study.

The revised version of the article corrected Figure 2. This change appears in the revised online PDF copy of this article.

Impact on clinical practice of a non-invasive gene expression melanoma rule-out test: 12-month follow-up of negative test results and utility data from a large US registry study.

The Pigmented Lesion Assay (PLA, sensitivity 91-95%, specificity 69-91%, negative predictive value ?99%) is a commercially available, non-invasive gene expression test that helps dermatologists guide pigmented lesion management decisions and rule out melanoma. Earlier studies have demonstrated high clinical utility and no missed melanomas in a 3-6-month follow-up period. We undertook the current investigations to provide 12-month follow-up data on PLA(-) tests, and to further confirm utility.

Real-world performance and utility of a noninvasive gene expression assay to evaluate melanoma risk in pigmented lesions.

About 3 million surgical pigmented skin lesion biopsies are performed each year in the USA alone to diagnose fewer than 200 000 new cases of invasive melanoma and melanoma in situ using the current standard of care that includes visual assessment and histopathology. A recently described noninvasive adhesive patch-based gene expression rule-out test [pigmented lesion assay (PLA)] may be helpful in identifying high-risk pigmented skin lesions to aid with surgical biopsy decisions. The main objective of this utility study was to determine the real-world clinical performance of PLA use and assess how the PLA changes physician behavior in an observational cohort analysis of 381 patients assessed with the PLA.

Utility of a Noninvasive 2-Gene Molecular Assay for Cutaneous Melanoma and Effect on the Decision to Biopsy.

Importance: Expression of long intergenic non-protein coding RNA 518 (LINC00518) and preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) genes, obtained via noninvasive adhesive patch biopsy, is a sensitive and specific method for detection of cutaneous melanoma. However, the utility of this test in biopsy decisions made by dermatologists has not been evaluated.

Objective: To determine the utility of the pigmented lesion assay (PLA) for LINC00518/PRAME expression in decisions to biopsy a series of pigmented skin lesions.

Skin cancer in individuals of African, Asian, Latin-American, and American-Indian descent: differences in incidence, clinical presentation, and survival compared to Caucasians.

Skin cancer most commonly affects Caucasians and rarely affects individuals of African, Asian, Latin-American, and American-Indian descent. Although skin cancer is rare in these groups, the diagnosis may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Many factors may account for this discrepancy.

A systemic type I 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor is ineffective in the treatment of acne vulgaris.

Excessive sebum production is a central aspect of the pathophysiology of acne vulgaris. Sebaceous gland function is under androgen control and it is hypothesized that dihydrotestosterone is formed by the action of 5 alpha-reductase. Type I is the controlling isoenzyme.

Advanced presentation of melanoma in African Americans.

Background: Melanoma in African Americans is rare, and the diagnosis is often delayed, leading to advanced presentation and poor prognosis.

Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study is to determine whether African American patients diagnosed with melanoma at the Washington Hospital Center were initially seen with more advanced disease than white patients.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on 36 African American patients who were diagnosed and/or treated for melanoma at the Washington Hospital Center between 1981 and 2000.