Led by a California-based research team, a new study just published in Nature Immunology found that a simple blood test can predict recurrences of breast cancer. With this newly-designed test, medical professionals can study blood samples to identify patients' risk of the disease returning within 3-5 years.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the principal cause of death of breast cancer patients is the recurrence of the disease after it has been treated. Easy and quick identification of a patient's risk of breast cancer recurrence would allow medical professionals to tailor the treatment of the cancer to each individual patient. The non-invasive test could prove to be an easily trackable measurement of a patient's status while in remission.
This advancement may drastically reduce the impact that breast cancer recurrence has on millions of Americans. According to breastcancer.org, about 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetimes. In 2019 alone, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S. The blood test is not yet commercially available but provides a glimpse into a scientific advancement that could prevent many recurrences of breast cancer and save numerous lives.
Source: www.Ascension.org
