admin posted on January 29, 2010 10:04
By Fleur Revell, NYU to adopt Kiwi Cancer Technology - New Zealand developed melanoma technology is being used in New York University.
One of America’s leading universities, New York University (NYU), will utilise Kiwi MoleMap technology to advance skin cancer research and help find new ways to detect melanoma earlier.
The Charles C. Harris Skin and Cancer Unit, a teaching hospital at NYU’s Langone Medical Center will now have access to 1000’s of Kiwi and Australian melanoma case studies for their residents and researchers to examine.
The unit, considered one of the top dermatology departments in the world, has adopted the MoleMap (branded ‘MoleSafe’ in the US) software and database - regarded as the largest tele-dermatology system with 40 melanoma screening centers globally.
The MoleMap programme combines digital dermoscopy, total body photography and sequential monitoring to gather valuable information that is then analysed by a specialist dermatologist to help identify melanomas which could potentially be overlooked during a conventional clinical examination.
Over the last 7 years the MoleMap network of clinics, utilising their advanced technology, has conducted more than 120,000 examinations on 62,000 patients, imaged and diagnosed in excess of 1 million lesions, identifying close to 1,000 melanomas.
The US Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Clinic, has also recently used the MoleMap database for its “The Ugly Duckling Sign” research into pigmented moles which made headlines worldwide – now NYU researchers will have access to the same database.
CEO of MoleMap Adrian Bowling says NYU’s decision to establish a MoleMap clinic within its hospital shows the value of the technology as a diagnostic tool.
Bowling says NYU’s dermatologists, medical residents, along with specialty researchers, will now be using the database to help identify melanomas at an earlier stage.
Dr Mark Gray a MoleMap Dermatologist says it’s important to diagnose melanoma at the earliest opportunity as the longer it is left the more invasive the lesion may become and the worse the prognosis will be.
“Melanoma continues to be one of the most prevalent forms of cancer and is often completely without symptoms. Left untreated, in severe cases, the cancer can progress to other areas of the body such as the lymph nodes or brain,” says Dr Gray.
Melanomas are often hard to spot and they can appear in the mouth, nose, eyes, stomach and even under fingernails, he says.