Scots pioneer breast cancer test that could boost survival rates

Published on Wednesday 30 December 2009 21:57

SCOTTISH scientists are developing a test for breast cancer that could dramatically improve survival rates.

Researchers from Strathclyde and Edinburgh Napier universities have identified a "biomarker" in the blood that could be used to screen people at risk from the disease.

They said the breakthrough potentially could lead to far earlier diagnosis and remove the need for more invasive tests.

Survival rates from breast cancer are improving across the UK, thanks to new treatments.

But, despite this, the disease still causes more than 1,000 deaths in Scotland each year – and about 4,000 Scots are diagnosed with the disease annually.

Gemma Gallacher, a student at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, who led the initial stages of the research, said: "Breast cancer has a devastating impact on the people who suffer from it and their families. The diagnosis is still reliant on invasive techniques, such as mammography and biopsy, which can themselves cause a great deal of discomfort and distress to patients."

Ms Gallacher said, while death rates were dropping, researchers had been lacking a marker to help them detect the disease – something that could be tested for in the blood to indicate the presence of cancer.

The Strathclyde-led research was carried out in collaboration with Dr Kevin Smith, of Edinburgh Napier's School of Life Sciences, and Professor David George, of Glasgow University.

They have been awarded a grant of about 25,000 by the charity Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test to build on the findings.

Dr Smith, who will lead the next stage of the research, said the grant would help bring them closer to the "holy grail" of breast cancer research – identifying a molecule that not only appears to be diagnostic for an earlier detection of the cancer but which can also be detected by a simple testing of a blood sample rather than an invasive tissue biopsy.

The researchers explored the possibility that a protein called Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), which is present in blood, could form the basis of a diagnostic marker for early breast cancer.

They obtained samples from people with and without breast cancer. The AGP in the samples was isolated and blood sugar levels were compared. The levels varied between different groups, and samples from people with benign and invasive cancer were found to contain N-acetylgalactosamine – a type of sugar not normally found in AGP.

Ms Gallacher said: "It's not yet clear where this sugar came from, but we would hope it could lead to earlier detection of breast cancer.

"A tumour can be growing for up to eight years before there is a physical manifestation of it, so anything which can speed up the diagnosis would be of huge benefit to patients."

Dr Laura Bell, Cancer Research UK's science information officer, said: "Detecting cancer earlier saves lives, and biomarkers that can flag the early stages of certain cancers are an exciting area of research which could make diagnosis much quicker and easier in future."