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Castle Biosciences Announces Expanded Medicare Coverage for DecisionDx-Melanoma in Cutaneous Melanoma
Palmetto GBA issues final expanded local coverage determination effective November 22, 2020 FRIENDSWOOD, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Castle Biosciences, Inc.
About this update from Castle Biosciences, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nPalmetto GBA issues final expanded local coverage determination effective November 22, 2020\n\n FRIENDSWOOD, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nCastle Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTL), a skin cancer diagnostics company providing personalized genomic information to improve cancer treatment decisions, today announced that Medicare Administrative Contractor, Palmetto GBA MolDx, has issued a final expanded local coverage determination (LCD) for the company's DecisionDx®-Melanoma test. The LCD effective date is Nov. 22, 2020. Details on the LCD and the billing and coding article are posted to the Medicare Coverage Database on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website.\n\nDecisionDx-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. The test has been studied in more than 5,700 patient samples.\n\n“We are pleased to have received positive expanded coverage for our DecisionDx-Melanoma test for patients diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma,” said Derek Maetzold, president and chief executive officer of Castle Biosciences. “We believe that adding the personalized genomic information provided by our DecisionDx-Melanoma test to traditional clinical and pathology factors can help clinicians and their patients make improved treatment decisions. This coverage decision provides greater access to our test for people with melanoma, as it allows additional Medicare beneficiaries to incorporate DecisionDx-Melanoma into their management plans.”\n\nCastle Biosciences plans to continue generating and publishing scientific data to demonstrate enhanced clinical utility of the DecisionDx-Melanoma test, which is currently supported by 26 peer-reviewed publications.\n\nAbout DecisionDx-Melanoma\n\nDecisionDx-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 ...