FRIENDSWOOD, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Castle Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTL), a dermatologic diagnostics company providing personalized genomic information to inform treatment decisions, today announced its continued collaboration with the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF), a non-profit organization leading the melanoma community to transform melanoma from one of the deadliest cancers to one of the most treatable through research, education and advocacy.
MRF Miles for Melanoma and 2021 Galas:
The MRF Miles for Melanoma 5K run/walks are community events held across the United States, both virtually and in-person, to raise funds that support critical research for viable melanoma treatments. Participants include melanoma patients, survivors, caregivers and supporters. Castle Biosciences is a sponsor of the upcoming events taking place in Cleveland, St. Paul, Minn., Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco.
Additionally, Castle Biosciences is a sponsor of the 2021 MRF galas, taking place in Chicago, Denver and New York, in celebration of courageous melanoma survivors and those in the medical community who are making a difference in the fight against melanoma through exemplary patient care, cutting-edge research or scientific leadership.
“The important work of the MRF to accelerate medical research while advocating for the melanoma community would not be possible without the generous support of corporate sponsors like Castle Biosciences,” said Kyleigh LiPira, M.B.A., chief executive officer of the MRF. “We are grateful for their partnership and applaud their commitment to keeping patients at the forefront of their business.”
“At Castle, we are committed to improving the lives of patients with skin cancer, and it is at the core of everything we do,” said Derek Maetzold, president and chief executive officer of Castle Biosciences. “So, we are proud to further our collaboration with the Melanoma Research Foundation. Their important work in the areas of research, advocacy and education is critical for patients living with melanoma and their families.”
About The Melanoma Research Foundation
The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) is the largest independent organization devoted to melanoma. Since 1998, the MRF has funded over $20.1 million in melanoma research, transforming the landscape of treatment development. Committed to the support of medical research in finding effective treatments and eventually a cure for melanoma, the MRF also educates patients and physicians about prevention, diagnosis and the treatment of melanoma. The MRF is a committed advocate for the melanoma community, helping to raise awareness of the disease and the need for a cure. The MRF’s website is the premier source for melanoma information seekers. More information is available at https://www.melanoma.org. Find the MRF on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
About DecisionDx-Melanoma
DecisionDx®-Melanoma is a gene expression profile test that uses an individual patient’s tumor biology to predict individual risk of cutaneous melanoma metastasis or recurrence, as well as sentinel lymph node positivity, independent of traditional staging factors, and has been studied in more than 5,700 patient samples. Using tissue from the primary melanoma, the test measures the expression of 31 genes. The test has been validated in four archival risk of recurrence studies of 901 patients and six prospective risk of recurrence studies including more than 1,600 patients. To predict likelihood of sentinel lymph node positivity, the Company utilizes its proprietary algorithm, i31-GEP, to produce an integrated test result. i31-GEP is an artificial intelligence-based neural network algorithm (independently validated in a cohort of 1,674 prospective, consecutively tested patients with T1-T4 cutaneous melanoma) that integrates the DecisionDx-Melanoma test result with the patient’s traditional clinicopathologic features. Impact on patient management plans for one of every two patients tested has been demonstrated in four multicenter and single-center studies including more than 560 patients. The consistent performance and accuracy demonstrated in these studies provides confidence in disease management plans that incorporate DecisionDx-Melanoma test results. Through March 31, 2021, DecisionDx-Melanoma has been ordered more than 73,396 times for use in patients with cutaneous melanoma.
More information about the test and disease can be found at www.CastleTestInfo.com.
About Castle Biosciences
Castle Biosciences (Nasdaq: CSTL) is a commercial-stage dermatologic diagnostics company focused on providing physicians and their patients with personalized, clinically actionable genomic information to make more accurate treatment decisions. The Company currently offers tests for patients with cutaneous melanoma (DecisionDx®-Melanoma, DecisionDx®-CMSeq), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (DecisionDx®-SCC), suspicious pigmented lesions (myPath® Melanoma, DecisionDx® DiffDx™-Melanoma) and uveal melanoma (DecisionDx®-UM, DecisionDx®-PRAME and DecisionDx®-UMSeq). For more information about Castle’s gene expression profile tests, visit www.CastleTestInfo.com.
Castle also has active research and development programs for tests in other dermatologic diseases with high clinical need, including its test in development to predict systemic therapy response in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and related conditions. Castle Biosciences is based in Friendswood, Texas (Houston), and has laboratory operations in Phoenix. Additionally, in May of 2021, Castle acquired the myPath Melanoma laboratory in Salt Lake City.
For more information, visit www.CastleBiosciences.com.
DecisionDx-Melanoma, DecisionDx-CMSeq, DecisionDx-SCC, myPath Melanoma, DecisionDx DiffDx-Melanoma, DecisionDx-UM, DecisionDx-PRAME and DecisionDx-UMSeq are trademarks of Castle Biosciences, Inc.