A non invasive patch biopsy involving the removal of epithelial cells by means of adhesive patch. The skin cells are then processed and examined under a PCR machine or in some other fashion to obtain diagnostic information.
DermTech’s proprietary process painlessly extracts RNA and DNA from skin tissue samples to find genomic markers of melanoma specifically and accurately.
Cancer starts when genes mutate within a cell. This altered cell duplicates and duplicates until enough cells exist to be seen under a microscope (and then, eventually, even without one). DermTech’s genomic analysis can find these altered cancerous cells long before they show up under a microscope, through a proprietary gene expression test.
The expression test to search for PRAME and LINC00518 is done through an amplification process called RT-PCR (a polymerase chain reaction) that makes billions of copies of these genes so our scientists can study them in detail. When this analysis shows excessive levels of the PRAME and/or LINC00518 gene, it correlates with the presence of melanoma.
Office Hours
Monday: 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Tuesday: 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Wednesday: 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Thursday: 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Friday: 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Phone: 703-966-7127
Address: 1525 Wilson Boulevard,
Suite 100 & 125,
Arlington, VA 22209
