JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 17 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered a way to distinguish sun-damaged but normal Caucasian skin from cancerous melanomas.
The finding could cut down on unnecessary or overly aggressive surgery.
The new technique is detailed in a new study by Mayo Clinic researchers and involves measuring the number of melanocytes in a 0.5 mm sample of skin. Normal, undamaged skin has five to seven melanocytes in a 0.5 mm sample, sun-damaged skin has an average of 15.6, and melanomas have many more.
By measuring the number of melanocytes in progressive samples, clinicians will now be able to determine where a melanoma ends and normal but sun-damaged skin -- which does not need to be removed -- begins, the research team said.
The study authors also discovered that normal, sun-damaged skin has melanocytes in adjacent tissue and melanocytes descending along the hair follicles, both of which have previously been considered evidence of melanoma and a reason to keep cutting.
The study authors wrote that, although melanomas account for only 4 percent of diagnosed skin cancers, they are responsible for nearly all of the deaths. This invasive malignancy originates in melanocytes, the cells that color skin, hair, and eyes.
The current surgery for melanoma is called a Mohs procedure, and involves removing the skin in thin layers and examining it under a microscope until healthy tissue is reached.
The research -- led by Ali Hendi and performed at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla -- appears in the July issue of Archives of Dermatology.
