In a recent American Academy of Dermatology meeting, a speaker said, "Combining genomic testing with clinical and pathology information will render increased accuracy and detection of melanoma in pediatric patients."

Pediatric melanoma accounts for <1% of all melanomas. Its rarity among children, atypical presentation, and ambiguous histology often cause this population to suffer disease progression from delayed diagnoses.

Alberto S. Pappo of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, said that "This concept of pediatric melanoma has grown over the year, and now we eventually have the tool to put everything together. This integrated analysis of lesions will eventually deliver a better idea of how a lesion will behave in a child and guide us through therapy."

During his presentation at The Society for Pediatric Dermatology Meeting before AAD Annual Meeting, Pappo explained, "Before genomics, we could distinguish Spitz from non-Spitz lesions with an accuracy of 0.267, while it was possible to an accuracy of 0.835 after genomics. The same is true for conventional melanoma vs. unconventional melanoma, with pre-genomic outcomes being less accurate than post-genomic outcomes (0.323 vs. 0.689, respectively)."

Utilizing genomics also bypasses steps that may be unnecessary in children, like surgeries, lymph node dissections, or adjuvant therapies.

 Pappo concluded that "I strongly encourage clinicians to undertake genomic tests in the tumors because, eventually, that can affect the patient care."

https://www.healio.com/news/dermatology/20230318/genomics-increase-accuracy-in-pediatric-melanoma-diagnosis