The Color of Cancer.A genetic test has been developed that helps detect the skin cancer malignant melanoma Malignant Melanoma Definition Malignant melanoma is a type of cancer arising from the melanocyte cells of the skin. Melanocytes are cells in the skin that produce a pigment called melanin. before the cancer can spread to other areas of the body. The test, presented at the March 2000 meeting of the International Society of Dermatopathology, was developed by staining normal and cancerous skin cells with fluorescent dye Noun 1. fluorescent dye - a yellow dye that is visible even when highly diluted; used as an absorption indicator when silver nitrate solution is added to sodium chloride in order to precipitate silver chloride (turns pink when no chloride ions are left in solution and to identify a common set of chromosomal chromosomal, adj relating to chromosome, or a configuration within the cell's nucleus that contains a linear thread of DNA that conveys genetic data. chromosomal emanating from or pertaining to chromosome. abnormalities to which pathologists can refer. The test allows dermatologists to make more certain diagnoses and, by showing where cancer cells cells once believed to be peculiar to cancers, but now know to be epithelial cells differing in no respect from those found elsewhere in the body, and distinguished only by peculiarity of location and grouping. See also: Cancer stop and healthy cell growth begins, will help them remove only the cells that are cancerous. A simplified version of the test is expected to be available to pathology laboratories within a year. |
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