Breast cancer blood test developed
 

Breast cancer blood test developed Press Association
Friday August 4, 2006 9:43 AM

Scientists have developed a new blood test to detect breast cancer at a very early stage.

The technique, created by an international team led by a British-based researcher, could in particular benefit younger women, for whom current mammography scans are less effective.

Pilot studies suggest the test could also be used to identify prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and melanoma, the American Chemical Society's Journal of Proteome Research reports.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women worldwide, with 1.1 million new cases and an estimated 300,000-400,000 deaths occurring each year.

The stage at which treatment of the disease is started has a significant impact on the survival rate.

In recent years the mortality rate has fallen because of earlier detection and more effective therapy, the research paper says.

At present diagnosis is based on triple testing - breast examination, imaging with mammography and ultrasonography, and biopsy - but better blood testing could reduce the need for open biopsy, the scientists say.

The new blood test is 200 to 1,000 times more sensitive than existing tests, according to the researchers.

Professor Jasminka Godovac-Zimmermann, of University College London, headed the research group, which included scientists from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh and BioTraces Inc, a company based in Herndon, Virginia.

Prof Godovac-Zimmermann said: "Our pilot studies show that using blood samples, breast cancer and several other types of epithelial cancers can be detected with much better sensitivity and specificity. This may allow new, less intrusive, safer and much less expensive approaches for the early diagnosis of cancer, for distinguishing malignant and benign cancers, and for monitoring cancer therapy."

Excellent news overall
 

But what exactly is a benign cancer cell?

The reporter probably meant to write tumor and wrote cancer (as there are malignant and benign tumors but obviously cancer is only malignant).


Kind regards

Becky

In using the term "benign cancer" they may refer to microscopic dormant tumours or cells that are apparently fairly common according to various autopsy studies on people ho died of other causes than cancer (accidents,old age....).
This is especially true for prostate cancer cells which show up in the majority of male autopsies.
Dr M.J. Folkman in his lectures on angiogenesis often refers to this data to explain the role of the "angiogenesis switch" in changing the the behaviour of dormant cancer cells into proliferating malignant ones.
I recall reading about two such switches discovered by two different research groups. And there may be anything that disturb the balance between the endogenous inhibitors & promotors of angiogenesis. Even primary tumours have been found to cause the secretion of both inhibitors & promotors of cancer growth even at remote locations.
If the blood test detects cancer at the microscopic stage, then low toxicity maintenance treatments may eventually be devised to keep the disease at a very low level were the patient feels like disease free.

Probably meant benign/malignant tumours
 

Judging from this:

http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.c...pr0600834.html