Simple blood test could detect early breast cancer for young women in scientific breakthrough
A SCIENTIFIC breakthrough could enable early breast cancer to be detected in young women with a simple blood test.
The Trucheck test correctly identifies 92 percent of breast cancers by highlighting cancer cells circulating in the blood.
Results following the minimally invasive procedure have about five percent more accuracy than a mammography, prompting one researcher to hail the disease screening process a "game changer".
Its ability to spot early-stage breast cancers unable to be detected on scans, particularly in younger women is being celebrated by doctors.
Breast cancer surgeon Professor Kefah Mokbel worked on the innovation and says a "paradigm shift" could be seen in breast cancer screening, reports.
He said: "Potentially, this test is a game-changer. It could transform breast cancer screening."
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Medical oncologist Dr Tim Crook, from The London Clinic private hospital, is offering the test to patients already.
He says Trucheck has the potential to replace mammograms in the future.
Dr Crook said: "We have a massive problem with late diagnosis of cancer in this country and it’s been difficult to think of ways to ameliorate that."
The exam sees a nurse draw 5ml of blood which is analysed to find the presence of often-cancerous ‘circulating tumour cells’ (CTCs).
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In blood samples taken from 9,632 healthy women and another 548 with breast cancer, Trucheck was able to correctly identify existing cancer 92 percent of the time, in a case-controlled study.
Trucheck identified the disease 100 percent of the time in samples from women with Stage 3 or Stage 4 of the disease.
The test was 96 percent accurate when attempting to spot Stage 2 cancer in women where the CTCs are fewer and the tumours are commonly confined to the breast.
Accuracy was 89 percent in women with Stage 1 breast cancer while it picked up 70 percent of cases where pre-cancerous legions where present, known as Stage 0.
There are over 50,000 cases of breast cancer in women every year in the UK.
Nearly 1,000 people die from breast cancer every month in the UK, with the disease killing around 11,500 women and 80 men each year.
While it is more common in older women, it does affect the younger generation and men too – with around 20 per cent of cases occurring in females under 50 and 350 male cases diagnosed in the UK annually.
For most women, the first sign or symptom of breast cancer is a lump or area of thickened tissue in their breast.
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While 90 per cent of such lumps are not cancerous, it is vital to get them checked by your GP at the earliest opportunity – detecting the disease early can mean treatment is more effective.
It is therefore vitally important to be "breast aware" - know what feels normal for you, and therefore what changes to look out for.
