UofL Health-Brown Cancer Center and Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40202, USA.
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA.
Curr Oncol. 2023 Jun 24;30(7):6079-6096. doi: 10.3390/curroncol30070453.
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the United States and the deadliest of all skin cancers. Even with recent advancements in treatment, there is still a 13% two-year recurrence rate, with approximately 30% of recurrences being distant metastases. Identifying patients at high risk for recurrence or advanced disease is critical for optimal clinical decision-making. Currently, there is substantial variability in the selection of screening tests and imaging, with most modalities characterized by relatively low accuracy. In the current study, we built upon a preliminary examination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in the melanoma setting to examine its utility for diagnostic and prognostic assessment. Using regression analysis, we found that selected DSC profile (thermogram) parameters were useful for differentiation between melanoma patients and healthy controls, with more complex models distinguishing melanoma patients with no evidence of disease from patients with active disease. Thermogram features contributing to the third principal component (PC3) were useful for differentiation between controls and melanoma patients, and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis indicated that PC3 was useful for predicting the overall survival of active melanoma patients. With the further development and optimization of the classification method, DSC could complement current diagnostic strategies to improve screening, diagnosis, and prognosis of melanoma patients.
黑色素瘤是美国第五大常见癌症，也是所有皮肤癌中最致命的一种。尽管最近在治疗方面取得了进展，但仍有 13%的两年复发率，约 30%的复发为远处转移。确定高复发风险或晚期疾病的患者对于最佳临床决策至关重要。目前，筛选试验和影像学的选择存在很大的差异，大多数方法的准确性相对较低。在本研究中，我们在黑色素瘤环境中对差示扫描量热法（DSC）进行了初步检查的基础上，进一步研究了其在诊断和预后评估中的应用。通过回归分析，我们发现，选定的 DSC 图谱（热谱）参数可用于区分黑色素瘤患者和健康对照者，而更复杂的模型可区分无疾病证据的黑色素瘤患者和活动性疾病患者。有助于区分对照组和黑色素瘤患者的热谱特征，Cox 比例风险回归分析表明 PC3 可用于预测活动性黑色素瘤患者的总生存率。随着分类方法的进一步发展和优化，DSC 可以补充当前的诊断策略，以改善黑色素瘤患者的筛查、诊断和预后。
