Castle Biosciences, Inc. and stage II melanoma survivor Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave are teaming up to raise awareness around the prevention, detection and management of melanoma.
“When I first learned that the weird spot on my back was melanoma, I was truly in shock,” says Mellencamp Arroyave, television personality, wellness coach and founder of ALL IN by Teddi, host of the Two T’s in a Pod podcast, in a news release. “Yes, I tanned and laid out in the sun as a teen, but as I got older, I became more aware about taking care of my skin. Skin cancer was not anything I thought would affect me or that those choices I made when I was younger would catch up with me. After melanoma was removed from my shoulder, the 14th lesion resulting in a major surgery, the gravity of my diagnosis had become evident.
“I want to share my story, both to encourage others to advocate for their personal health care and to educate anyone and everyone that this disease does not discriminate, looks different on every individual, and that taking care of your skin and keeping up with your skin checks is so important.”
Castle’s DecisionDx-Melanoma test provides personalized information about a patient’s risk of melanoma recurrence, metastasis and sentinel lymph node positivity based on the biology of their tumor. This information can help guide important decisions regarding a patient’s treatment plan and follow-up care that have been shown to improve patient survival.
Mellencamp Arroyave will be sharing more about her melanoma journey in a series of conversations on Instagram (@teddimellencamp) with Aaron S. Farberg, MD, double board-certified dermatologist, chief medical officer of Bare Dermatology in Dallas, TX, and assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, and with Morgan England, a stage III melanoma survivor and patient advocate who received the DecisionDx-Melanoma test as part of her melanoma care.
“I would tell others with melanoma or any cancer diagnosis that you have to be your own advocate,” says England. “And that’s why I wanted to have the DecisionDx-Melanoma test run on my tumor biopsy; I learned it could give me more information about my cancer. There are days when I feel anxious and worried about death or metastasis, or whether I am on the best treatment pathway for my disease. When I’m feeling that anxiety, I just read through my test report. It’s been a way that I have coped with anxiety through this diagnosis.”
“Melanomas with similar tumor features can have vastly different biology, which can impact how they behave,” added Farberg. “Is the tumor more aggressive? Is it likely to return or spread? The DecisionDx-Melanoma test is designed to provide this vital information that you can’t always get from a patient’s clinical or pathologic risk factors … information that helps me make better, risk-aligned decisions with my patients on how we can treat their melanoma to help improve the outcome of their disease.”
