一种更为准确的测试黑色素瘤的方法
Physicians may soon have a new test to help them diagnose melanoma with a greater degree of accuracy, researchers reported March 9 at the annual meeting of the International Society of Dermatopathology in San Francisco.
The test identifies chromosomal abnormalities that are common to melanoma, the most prevalent form of skin cancer. A genetic determination for melanoma may prove more accurate than current methods of identifying the cancer, which involve microscopic examination of the skin cells by a pathologist.
, http://www.100md.com
Like other cancers, melanoma occurs when a cell‘s genes become mutated. In the case of skin cancer, this is often the result of overexposure to the sun, though there are other contributing factors as well.
A team of scientists led by Dr. Philip LeBoit, professor of pathology at the University of California, San Francisco, set out to find the genetic mutations that occur most frequently in melanoma. They compared the genetic makeup of non-cancerous skin cells to that of melanoma cells from 100 people.
, 百拇医药
The investigators found that on an arm of chromosome 9, 82 percent of melanoma cells are missing DNA segments. On chromosome 10, 63 percent of cells are missing other portions of DNA. Further, on chromosome 7, about 50 percent of melanoma cells have duplicate DNA segments.
“Now we have a common set of abnormalities for melanoma”， said LeBoit.“And most tumors have two, three or four of them.”
Currently, this genetic test, called comparative genomic hybridization, is too complex to bring to pathology labs for regular use. However, LeBoit and his colleagues hope to simplify the procedure to make it quicker and easier to diagnose melanoma through use of fluorescent markers that will highlight mutated genetic material.
, 百拇医药
“It now takes a more sophisticated molecular biology lab weeks to months of work to get an answer for a given case,” LeBoit said. The fluorescent testing “is much easier to do technically.”
About half of all melanomas develop from moles on the skin, though they can develop on normal skin as well. The cancer starts as a small, colored growth and can spread relatively quickly. If untreated, the cancer can spread down through the skin, where it can enter lymph tissue and blood vessels.
, 百拇医药
Although about 6,000 Americans each year die from melanoma, the five-year survival rate is near 100 percent if the cancer is caught early and if it hasn‘t spread too deep into the skin. Therefore, it is important to have a test that can accurately diagnose the disease quickly.
Surgery is the most common treatment for melanoma. If the affected area is small, normally the whole area can be removed without a biopsy. However, for larger areas in which the diagnosis is uncertain, doctors normally take remove a small section to test before proceeding to surgery.
A pigmented patch of skin may suspicious if it bleeds or has become raised, grows in size or turns darker. Some melanomas develop red, white or blue shades along with a black or brown pigment., 百拇医药
The test identifies chromosomal abnormalities that are common to melanoma, the most prevalent form of skin cancer. A genetic determination for melanoma may prove more accurate than current methods of identifying the cancer, which involve microscopic examination of the skin cells by a pathologist.
, http://www.100md.com
Like other cancers, melanoma occurs when a cell‘s genes become mutated. In the case of skin cancer, this is often the result of overexposure to the sun, though there are other contributing factors as well.
A team of scientists led by Dr. Philip LeBoit, professor of pathology at the University of California, San Francisco, set out to find the genetic mutations that occur most frequently in melanoma. They compared the genetic makeup of non-cancerous skin cells to that of melanoma cells from 100 people.
, 百拇医药
The investigators found that on an arm of chromosome 9, 82 percent of melanoma cells are missing DNA segments. On chromosome 10, 63 percent of cells are missing other portions of DNA. Further, on chromosome 7, about 50 percent of melanoma cells have duplicate DNA segments.
“Now we have a common set of abnormalities for melanoma”， said LeBoit.“And most tumors have two, three or four of them.”
Currently, this genetic test, called comparative genomic hybridization, is too complex to bring to pathology labs for regular use. However, LeBoit and his colleagues hope to simplify the procedure to make it quicker and easier to diagnose melanoma through use of fluorescent markers that will highlight mutated genetic material.
, 百拇医药
“It now takes a more sophisticated molecular biology lab weeks to months of work to get an answer for a given case,” LeBoit said. The fluorescent testing “is much easier to do technically.”
About half of all melanomas develop from moles on the skin, though they can develop on normal skin as well. The cancer starts as a small, colored growth and can spread relatively quickly. If untreated, the cancer can spread down through the skin, where it can enter lymph tissue and blood vessels.
, 百拇医药
Although about 6,000 Americans each year die from melanoma, the five-year survival rate is near 100 percent if the cancer is caught early and if it hasn‘t spread too deep into the skin. Therefore, it is important to have a test that can accurately diagnose the disease quickly.
Surgery is the most common treatment for melanoma. If the affected area is small, normally the whole area can be removed without a biopsy. However, for larger areas in which the diagnosis is uncertain, doctors normally take remove a small section to test before proceeding to surgery.
A pigmented patch of skin may suspicious if it bleeds or has become raised, grows in size or turns darker. Some melanomas develop red, white or blue shades along with a black or brown pigment., 百拇医药