WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators approved Affymetrix Inc (AFFX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) software technology that uses a genetic test that may help identify deadly types of cancer cells, sending the company's shares up more than 7 percent on Thursday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that it had cleared for sale the Affymetrix system and the test, owned by privately held Pathwork Diagnostics, which compares the genes of a patient's tumor with genetic information associated with malignancy in a database.

The test looks for bladder, breast, and colorectal cancer tumors, among others.

Shares of Affymetrix rose 55 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $7.98 in midday Nasdaq trade.

(Reporting by Kim Dixon, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)