Blood test 'could detect breast cancer years in advance'

guineamom · May 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9237415/Blood-test-could-detect-breast-cancer-years-in-advance.html

A blood test that can detect breast cancer decades before the disease develops could be available in five years, scientists have announced.

The test could help doctors to identify women at high risk of the disease allowing them to take preventive medicines and switch to healthier lifestyles.

Researchers have identified a 'genetic switch', carried by one in five women, that doubles their risk of developing breast cancer.

Experts described the breakthrough by scientists at Imperial College London as "exciting" and said signs of the disease could be detected "many decades in advance".

Dr James Flanagan, who led the new research, said the test could be available in five to ten years.

The 'genetic switch' is influenced by lifestyle factors such as alcohol, smoking, pollution, and hormones including HRT.

Carrying the genetic alterations increase a woman's lifetime risk of developing breast cancer from one in eight in the general population to one in four.

These tiny genetic changes could be detected in blood samples years before symptoms of breast cancer developed.

Scientists analysed blood samples from 1,380 women of various ages, 640 of whom went on to develop breast cancer.

On average, the blood tests were carried out three years before diagnosis. In some cases they pre-dated the discovery of breast cancer by up to 11 years.

The results were especially clear in blood samples from women under the age of 60.

Around 49,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and almost 12,000 die annually in Britain.

The changes are also associated with lymphoma and leukaemia meaning the test could have implications in other cancers.

A strong association was found between molecular changes in a white blood cell gene called ATM and breast cancer risk.

Dr Flanagan said: 'We are working towards prevention. If we can identify women at high risk of cancer we can work towards preventing it and could reduce the incidence of breast cancer quite dramatically.

"We have found one marker, we need to work towards finding them all and then we will have a more useful test."

The findings are published in the journal Cancer Research.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "Dr Flanagan's research into epigenetics is so exciting because it suggests that there is every possibility the risk of developing breast cancer could be decided many decades in advance.

"By piecing together how this happens, we can look at ways of preventing the disease and detecting it earlier to give people the best possible chance of survival."

Last month researchers announced that they had discovered that breast cancer was not a single disease but there were fact ten distinct genetic types.

This means that treatment can be tailored to the genetic profile of the specific type meaning drugs will work better, with fewer side effects.

Galsal · May 2012

WOW!

wallycat · May 2012

So this would detect BC prior to a woman having it.

Would it do anything for women who are being vigilant about a recurrence?

jenrio · May 2012

It's one of the studies. It can help a small population that they are more likely to get BC and start cowering right away (or have mastectomy), and after being fearful for 20 years, if they get BC, then they should cower more. till they get metastatic BC, then they are dead. If someone has this perfect prediction tool for me available 15 years ago, my only 95% way to prevent breast cancer is a mastectomy at age 20, since I really can't live healthier than I have.

I keep saying it. The limitation of screening, mammograms, prevention is inherent and unsurmountable without maybe a trillion dollars. The only cure will come from one or several 95+% cures for metastatic breast cancer for each subtype of BC.

check out my blog. Patients can do a lot more than donation to find the cure for metastatic BC.

http://killerboob.blogspot.com

coraleliz · May 2012

Lifestyle changes? A bit of a joke. There are too too too many of us here who lead the clean healthy lifestyle prior to BC. Lifestyle changes won't prevent BC! But perhaps something good will come out of this study.

Blood test 'could detect breast cancer years in advance'

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