Research may help develop simplified test for early detection of breast cancer
January 10, 2016
"This technique is superior to those currently available because affitoids specific for proteins secreted by breast cancer cells can be rapidly selected from a large collection, which isn't too expensive to build," Servoss said. "The selected affitoids will be used to determine a profile - a protein fingerprint - that indicates breast cancer. Of course, all of this is happening at the cell level, before the tumor is detectable."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year more than 40,000 women die due to breast cancer, and approximately 200,000 women are diagnosed with the disease. Early diagnosis leads to decreased mortality rates and allows for many more treatment options.
"It is imaginable that in this generation, a simple blood test could detect breast cancer at early stages and save thousands of lives," Servoss said.
Source: University of Arkansas