Say Raytheon and most people think of fighting battles, not cancer.

But southern Arizona's largest defense firm is indeed getting into biomedical research with a new technology to reduce cancer mortality. A project jointly conducted by scientists at Raytheon Co. and the Arizona Cancer Center at the University of Arizona will apply Raytheon's sophisticated image-analysis technology to the detection of melanoma, the most aggressive variety of skin cancer.

Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) has made a research grant of $545,000 to help bring together Raytheon and the Cancer Center; Raytheon is contributing an additional $650,000 to the investigation, which will apply Raytheon's existing image-analysis technology, used now in satellite surveillance and remote battlefield targeting, to detect changes in the skin of patients at high risk of developing melanoma.

"The grant allows us to continue this important research," said Michael W. Booen, a Raytheon Missile Systems vice president. "Imagine one day being able to give physicians the same kind of situational awareness--the ability to track even subtle changes in the appearance of their patients' skin--that we now provide to commanders in theater. It's an exciting opportunity."

"Our goal is to use this for earlier detection and to save lives," said Clara Curiel, director of the Pigmented Lesion Clinic and Multidisciplinary Oncology Program at the Cancer Center, in the Tucson Citizen.

Melanoma, a pigment-cell cancer, is highly treatable when caught early. Lesions sometimes grow quickly, though, and if the cancer metastasizes beyond its initial site, it becomes much more difficult to stop. Melanoma accounts for just 4 percent of skin-cancer cases, but 79 percent of skin-cancer deaths. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), an estimated 62,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States in 2008, and 8,400 patients will die from the disease.

Worldwide, Arizona is second only to Australia in the per-capita rate of skin cancer, Dr. Curiel said in the Citizen. A Citizen assessment of Arizona Department of Health records found that 3 of every 100,000 Arizonans died from melanoma in 2007.

The Raytheon-Cancer Center project assumes greater urgency in light of how rapidly skin-cancer incidence--and particularly melanoma--is increasing. Among women 15-39, for example, the NCI reports that melanoma diagnosis increased from 5.5 cases per 100,000 persons in 1973 to 13.9 per 100,000 in 2004.

"Early detection of melanoma and other skin cancers should be a top priority in the public-health system," Dr. Curiel said.

Currently, a patient at high risk of developing melanoma usually depends on a dermatologist comparing current moles and other superficial skin lesions to what the doctor saw at a previous checkup; moles of unusual color or asymmetry will be particularly suspect. Some dermatologists perform that comparison by taking a series of 30 or more photographs of the skin, then conducting a visual examination at the next appointment to assess any lesion growth since the photographs were taken.

This technique can aid in detecting a fast-growing melanoma but is hardly foolproof. "The doctor must make the comparison visually in the clinic," Dr. Curiel said in the Citizen. "The level of accuracy is not the best."

Raytheon's technology would use automated image analysis to enhance that process. Full-body images of a high-risk patient would be captured at an initial visit and compared against images from subsequent visits. Moles that are changing in color, size, or shape should be detectable using the same tools that Raytheon's image analysis can discern whether an army has slightly shifted the location of an artillery battery.

Dr. Curiel noted that the technology would not replace the role of dermatologists in diagnosing melanoma. Employing the imaging tool won't tell "them to biopsy or not biopsy," she said in the Citizen. "The doctor will look at the place that changed and then determine if it needs further attention."

Cancer Center spokesperson Sara Hammond said in the Arizona Daily Star that the Cancer Center and Raytheon will work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to secure approval of the technology for medical use. The technology the two institutions are studying might be introduced in a clinical setting within three or four years, Dr. Curiel said in the Citizen.

Karleen Seybold, a Raytheon systems engineer senior manager, and Dr. Curiel are co-principal investigators on the SFAz grant. Independently, Raytheon has been working for two years already on adapting its technology for a medical application, Seybold said in the Citizen.

Seybold added that Raytheon will seek to license the technology commercially should the current study proves its usefulness.

William Harris, president and CEO of SFAz noted the unusual partnership between a medical institute and a defense firm, and suggested that such collaboration was a preview of the future and a priority for SFAz, which he said seeks to stimulate "both positive economic and social returns.

"Our ability to compete and prosper as Arizonans and Americans in the 21st century is dependent upon our aptitude to think creatively and strategically in building these types of alliances," Dr. Harris said.

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For more information:

"Arizona Cancer Center, Raytheon team up to target skin cancer," Tucson Citizen, 12/17/2008

"Raytheon sets sights on cancer detection," Arizona Daily Star, 12/18/2008

UA news release, 12/16/2008

National Cancer Institute - Melanoma