A Queensland scientist has found new markers for melanoma, which may allow the disease to be accurately monitored via a routine blood test.
The clinical tool could be available within two years and is a major breakthrough in testing for one of the most deadly cancers in Australia.
QIMR Berghofer research assistant, and PHD candidate, Mitchell Stark discovered seven new melanoma markers, which can be detected in the blood.
The biomarkers can help track melanoma progression or recurrence in patients being monitored by their doctor.
"The blood test could indicate those really early signs of progression you can't see in the scans just yet," Mr Stark said on Thursday.
"If your scans are negative and your blood test is positive then you need to be monitored more closely."
Mr Stark said this could save lives, given patients could be treated before tumours became too difficult to remove.
Patients with stage three melanoma, with a spread confined to regional lymph nodes, have a five-year survival rate of about 50 per cent, compared to less than 15 per cent if metastases are widespread, he said.
The blood test would look for elevated levels of the markers, or microRNAs, tiny molecules which regulate the amount of protein a gene can produce.
The biomarkers were discovered in a Queensland government funded study of 380 people, including 250 melanoma patients.
Science and Innovation Minister Leeanne Enoch hailed the discovery as a major breakthrough, particularly for Queensland.
"This is an important discovery for a state with the highest rate of melanoma in the world," she said.
There are about 11,000 people diagnosed with melanoma each year and 1500 deaths annually.
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