World Health Organization Declares Intraoperative Lymphatic Mapping Standard of Care for Melanoma.

DUBLIN, Ohio--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 8, 1999--Neoprobe Corporation (Nasdaq/NMS:NEOP) today commented on the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring intraoperative lymphatic mapping (ILM) standard of care for melanoma or malignant skin cancer.

Dr. Natale Cascinelli, President of the WHO Melanoma Program made the standard of care designation when he presented An Overview on Sentinel Lymphnode Dissection at the 9th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatments in Paris, France, from February 2-5. In Cascinelli's abstract, he stated, -0-

     ...sentinal node biopsy represents the key to select patients
     harbouring clinically inapparent metastatic nodes and the concept
     of selective dissection is introduced as the clue to overcome
     unuseful elective nodal dissections. Sentinal node biopsy is a
     reliable and safe procedure for accurate staging of clinical
     stage I melanoma patients and for adequate selection of patients
     to submit to nodal dissections and adjuvant treatments. The
     adoption of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative
     probe drastically increases the chance for SN identification. The
     status of SN represents at multivariate analysis a mostly
     important prognostic factor for overall and disease-free
     survival. Sentinel node biopsy currently represents the standard
     of care in the management of stage I melanoma patients and the
     starting point for future policies on surgery and adjuvant
     treatment strategies.

Dr. Richard Orahood, Neoprobe's Medical Director, said, "the WHO's designation of ILM as the standard of care for melanoma is extremely gratifying to Neoprobe as a leader in providing ILM products."

Physicians use intraoperative lymphatic mapping to trace the lymphatic patterns in a patient. Evaluation of the potential tumor drainage and spread is intended for the purpose of more appropriately staging patients. Lymphatic mapping begins with a patient being injected at the site of a tumor with a commercially available radioactive tracing agent, e.g., filtered sulfur colloid labeled with Technetium-99m. The agent is intended to follow the same lymphatic flow as the tumor would if it had metastasized or spread. The surgeon may then track the agent's path with the probe, thus following the potential avenues of tumor spread and identifying the sentinel lymph nodes to be tested for cancer.

The statements made in this news release contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from Neoprobe's expectations. In addition to the matters described in this news release, ultimate timing and FDA clearance and other regulatory agencies, inherent uncertainties accompanying new product development and marketing, actions of government and private organizations concerning reimbursement, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the results of further clinical trials as well as the risk factors listed from time to time in Neoprobe's SEC filings, including but not limited to its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997, may affect the actual results achieved by Neoprobe.