Blood tests may spot breast cancer

Published on 02/10/2012 03:33

A SIMPLE blood test could provide a more effective way to test for early signs of breast cancer than using an X-ray to spot a lump, researchers say.

Scientists hope the blood test will be more accurate than mammograms, and will also be able to detect whether breast cancer patients are likely to relapse and what drugs to use.

A clinical study is about to begin in the UK’s largest breast screening clinic at Charing Cross Hospital, west London.

If the trial is successful, women could have a simple blood test every year rather than breast screening.

Professor Charles Coombes, co-investigator and Cancer Research UK’s breast cancer expert from Imperial College London, said: “When a woman has breast cancer we can tell by the DNA in her blood. But what we’re trying to find out in our study is how early the signs show up in a blood test.”