Embargoed until Wednesday 4th February 2015
00:01 IN YOUR TIME ZONE
Innovative new app for clinical skin cancer diagnosis launches
on World Cancer Day 2015
Wednesday 4th February 2015 – World Cancer Day: Geneva, Switzerland – On World Cancer Day 2015, general
practitioners, physicians and dermatologists in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia are being asked for their
feedback during the advanced trial phase of a new, free app that has the potential to play a vital role in the clinical
detection of skin cancer.
Developed by Lūbax, the app is the world's first skin identification system using state-of-the-art image recognition
software1. The app is designed to provide a simple, inexpensive software system to support health professionals in the
identification of all types of skin lesions. The first clinical studies of the app carried out in collaboration with Harvard,
Stanford, Oxford, and the University of São Paulo show greater than 90% sensitivity and specificity in detecting large
melanomas in patients2.
“The Lūbax app could provide a major contribution in improving melanoma detection with its innovative technology. As a
primary care researcher I am keen to study its usefulness among generalists in different countries and with different
thresholds for referral for specialist care,” said Dr Fiona Walter, a General Practitioner & Clinician Scientist from the
Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge.
The app will be made available to healthcare professionals only to limit the potential for misuse or misdiagnosis and is
operated by the physician taking a photograph of the skin lesion with their smartphone. The app – currently available on
iPhone with an iPad version being developed for later this year - searches a database of over 12,000 diagnosed skinlesion images, and shows the user the most similar images and their associated clinical diagnoses. With a continuously
growing database, over time the app will recognise and differentiate more skin diseases.
“Mobile health apps and the power of the Internet have the potential to change the trajectory of premature deaths from
cancer worldwide. We encourage all technology entrepreneurs to apply their skills and knowledge to global health
issues, including cancer, to help us drive equitable access to information, awareness and early detection,” urges Cary
Adams, Chief Executive Officer, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). “Together with health experts we can
create a pipeline of technology-driven solutions which will help all of us access these key levers to address cancer
globally. We will let down future generations if we do not press forward exploring and testing new and exciting technology
advances as they emerge.”
The app will be available to physicians in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, starting on World Cancer
Day, 4th February 2015. Feedback from health professionals can be sent to CustomerCare@lubax.com and more
information about the app is available at Lubax.com.
- END About Lūbax
The Lūbax app has been developed by a small team of medical and software experts who are committed to using mobile
technology to help GPs, clinicians and dermatologists in their delivery of healthcare. The President and CEO of Lūbax,
Raymond H. Chen, has 20 years of experience as a surgeon and scientist. More information can be found at
www.lubax.com
About World Cancer Day and the theme for 2015
World Cancer Day takes place every year on 4th February and is the single initiative under which the Union for
International Cancer Control (UICC), its members, partners and the entire world can unite together in the fight against the
global cancer epidemic.
Under the tagline ‘Not beyond us’, World Cancer Day 2015 will take a positive and proactive approach to the fight against
cancer, highlighting that solutions do exist across the continuum of cancer, and that they are within our reach.
The campaign will explore how we can implement what we already know in the areas of prevention, early detection,
treatment and care, and in turn, open up to the exciting prospect that we can impact the global cancer burden – for the
better.
World Cancer Day 2015 will be articulated around four key areas of focus:
Choosing healthy lives
Delivering early detection
Achieving treatment for all
Maximising quality of life
World Cancer Day is an initiative of UICC, through which we aim to help save millions of preventable deaths each year
by raising awareness and education about cancer, and pressing governments and individuals across the world to take
action against the disease. For more information on how to get involved, please visit: worldcancerday.org.
About the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)
UICC unites the cancer community to reduce the global cancer burden, to promote greater equity, and to integrate
cancer control into the world health and development agenda. UICC is the largest cancer-fighting organisation of its kind,
with over 800 member organisations across 155 countries representing the world's major cancer societies, ministries of
health, research institutes, treatment centres and patient groups.
UICC is dedicated to continuing to work with world leaders to increase their support for cancer control measures, and
encourage accountability for the cancer commitments made in the UN Political Declaration on NCDs. UICC uses key
convening opportunities like the World Cancer Leaders' Summit, World Cancer Congress and World Cancer Day for
continued focus on:

Developing specific time-bound targets and indicators to measure the national implementation of policies
and approaches to prevent and control cancer

Raising the priority accorded to cancer in the global health and development agenda

Promoting a global response to cancer
UICC and its multisectoral partners are committed to encouraging governments to look towards the implementation and
scale-up of quality and sustainable programmes that address the global burden of cancer and other NCDs. UICC is also
a founding member of the NCD Alliance, a global civil society network that now represents almost 2,000 organisations in
170 countries.
For more information, please visit: www.uicc.org
Media contacts:
Raymond H. Chen, MD, DPhil
Email: Raymond@lubax.com
Tel: +1 213-533-4100/ +1 626-485-4079
1
2
The Lūbax algorithm works like Google's image search, only it’s specifically designed for skin images. While Google's
image search surveys the whole Internet, the Lūbax algorithm uses carefully curated medical images. The Lūbax
algorithm is unique among smartphone applications, using sophisticated content-based image recognition technology to
discriminate skin-lesion types. The database and algorithm is being expanded to include basal and squamous cell
carcinomas in addition to amelanotic melanomas. As the database grows, Lūbax will recognise more and more skin
diseases and the app will be upgraded with the expanding database every six months.
Validation of a skin-lesion image-matching algorithm based on computer vision technology: A new smartphone
application (manuscript in review).