New Blood Test Could Detect Breast Cancer Five Years Before Outbreak

Researchers have found a way to detect breast cancer five years before the very first symptom, opening the possibility of having a simple blood test available in the next few years to identify the disease.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom have discovered that tumour-associated antigens – proteins produced by cancer cells that trigger the body to make autoantibodies against them – are good indicators of cancer, and are using this discovery to compare blood samples between breast cancer patients and patients without the disease.

“We were able to detect cancer with reasonable accuracy by identifying these autoantibodies in the blood,” says PhD student Daniyah Alfattani and part of the research team. Explaining that further development is underway to improve accuracy, she adds, “A blood test for early breast cancer detection would be cost- effective, which would be of particular value in low and middle income countries. It would also be an easier screening method to implement compared to current methods, such as mammography.”