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.
Keywords: diagnosis; differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); melanoma; no evidence of disease (NED); overall survival (OS); thermogram.