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Breast cancer may be detected by blood test five years before clinical signs show

JacksinPA

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Breast cancer may be detected by blood test five years before clinical signs show | Society | The Guardian

Breast cancer could be detected five years before clinical signs appear in patients thanks to a blood test that could identify the body’s immune responses to tumour cells. That is the claim that has been made about research to be presented at a national cancer conference in Glasgow on Sunday. However, other cancer experts have warned these claims should be treated with caution.

The study is the work of researchers at Nottingham University’s School of Medicine who focused on chemicals known as antigens. These are produced by cancer cells and trigger an immune response inside humans. In particular, they cause our bodies to make auto-antibodies that target and try to block those invading antigens.
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Even men can get this, so keep your eye on this development.
 
This is still early in the study. But what a profound difference it could be in identifying the earliest stages of cancer.

Detecting 5 years before clinical signs seems a little over optimistic.

Good to hear they are also working on similar detection for pancreatic, colorectal and liver cancers.
 
This is still early in the study. But what a profound difference it could be in identifying the earliest stages of cancer.

Detecting 5 years before clinical signs seems a little over optimistic.

Good to hear they are also working on similar detection for pancreatic, colorectal and liver cancers.

Until such time, I am a fan of the five year interval of colonoscopies in people over fifty. I was a long time proponent of “oh no, you ain’t.”
 
Ok but it would be kind of excruciating to test positive 5 years and then have to wait to develop it to be treated.
 
Ok but it would be kind of excruciating to test positive 5 years and then have to wait to develop it to be treated.

I think an early positive blood test for these specific antigens would be sufficient grounds for an annual PET scan. Not only can they identify tumors using this technology, they can tell if it has metastisized. I have some conditions with my pancreas that might lead to cancer of that organ. No tests currently exist to catch that cancer. An annual PET scan sounds like a good idea to me.
 
Until such time, I am a fan of the five year interval of colonoscopies in people over fifty. I was a long time proponent of “oh no, you ain’t.”

So am I. Last time he found an adenoma, so I'm at high risk. Next year is next time. BTW, propofol is the best anesthetic for this type of procedure. Had it with prostate surgery & never felt a thing.
 
Breast cancer may be detected by blood test five years before clinical signs show | Society | The Guardian

Breast cancer could be detected five years before clinical signs appear in patients thanks to a blood test that could identify the body’s immune responses to tumour cells. That is the claim that has been made about research to be presented at a national cancer conference in Glasgow on Sunday. However, other cancer experts have warned these claims should be treated with caution.

The study is the work of researchers at Nottingham University’s School of Medicine who focused on chemicals known as antigens. These are produced by cancer cells and trigger an immune response inside humans. In particular, they cause our bodies to make auto-antibodies that target and try to block those invading antigens.
=====================================================
Even men can get this, so keep your eye on this development.

This is wonderful news and I'm hopeful that these researchers have hit upon a standard blood test that can effectively predict that breast cancer will most certainly occur in some women. If scientists could develop that blood test for breast cancer, then it wouldn't be far fetched that it could detect cancers elsewhere in the body.

This story reminds me about a book I read about a Black woman in the 1950's in Baltimore, Maryland. It's called 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'. Henrietta Lacks had cervical cancer and the cancer cells are referred to as the' immortal cell line', known as HeLa. Her cancers cells, unbeknownst to her or her family, were duplicated and sold to laboratories all over the world for research and cancer drug development. The bottom line in the book is that Henrietta Lacks died of course, but her cancer cells are 'eternal' and still being used today for research and development of blood tests and treatments just like the one this article is about. None of her family knew what was happening or were ever financially compensated. That's a result of being Black in Maryland in the early 1950's.

I've lost at least three friends to breast cancer, two of them were in their late 30's one was her early 50's. Two other friends have had breast cancer and luckily have survived.
 
My wife survived breast cancer.

Cancer cells, unlike normal cells, are immortal. That's why HeLa cells have been around in culture flasks for so long.
 
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