Will you soon be finished going through the uncomfortable or even painful stage of mammography to screen for breast cancer? Scientists at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK have developed a new less invasive diagnostic method. It was tested on a group of 15 women with benign, early or metastatic breast cancer. Of the smear were made on the their fingertips : the screening test indeed detects biomarkers of breast cancer in sweat deposits. Their discovery seems very effective, since the results of the study show a 98% accuracy. Even better, the test not only detects the presence of breast cancer, but also determine type and stage.
In a press release (source 1), research team member Lynda Wyld, professor of surgical oncology at the University of Sheffield and oncoplastic surgeon at Doncaster Royal Infirmary does not hide her enthusiasm. “This new technique is still at an early stage of development, but the results are very promising. We plan to undertake further research to confirm these results on a large group of women. The technique presents a great potential both for the diagnosis and breast cancer screening, but also to monitor the effectiveness of treatments such as chemotherapy. The fact that the technique only requires fingertip smears, easy to transport and carry outcan also make screening and diagnosis of breast cancer more accessible.” The test developed would indeed be marketed as a screening kit to be carried out at home.
“Increase the use of screening”
Beyond the clinical breast examination, every two years, it is strongly recommended to women over 50 to perform a mammogram, as part of a national screening program. Unfortunately, many women don’t get tested early enough or frequently enough, if at all. “While effective, mammography exposes individuals to radiation, has limitations in sensitivity and specificity, and can cause moderate to severe discomfort“, explains the study published in the journal Nature (source 2).
Thus, this new test “would have the potential toincrease uptake of screeningto reduce the stage at the time of cancer diagnosis and therefore to reduce morbidity and mortality related to early breast cancer and its treatments.” Breast cancer is most common in women in France and worldwide. Each year, it causes the death of more than 12,000 French women.
