A team of researchers has found changes in the levels of particular proteins in the blood of people up to two years before they were diagnosed with breast cancer.
The study, presented at the 13th European Conference on Breast Cancercould form the basis of blood tests for people with a genetic predisposition or family history of breast cancer to ensure that the disease is diagnosed early, when the chances of survival are greatest.
The study Trial Early Serum Test Breast cancer (TESTBREAST), started in 2011 by Rob Tollenaar and Wilma Mesker, now includes 1,174 women who are at high risk of breast cancer, either because of their family history or because they carry genetic variants known to increase that risk. The included patients receive treatment or follow-up in nine hospitals in the Netherlands, where they are offered breast screening tests at an earlier age and more regularly than the rest of the Dutch population at medium risk of breast cancer.
The study has been running for ten years. Since then, participating women have had their blood drawn at least once a year, coinciding with their screening tests. In addition, samples have been taken from any patient who develops breast cancer at the time of diagnosis.
The study investigators have employed a well-established technique called “mass spectrometry” to analyze the levels of different proteins in the blood of women. And they have looked for both the variation between different women and the changes that arise in individual women over time.
So far, the researchers have performed detailed analyzes of 30 blood samples taken over time from three women ultimately diagnosed with breast cancer and three women who have so far not developed it, and have found clear differences. among women over time. This has revealed a set of six proteins that were at higher or lower levels one to two years before diagnosis.
Blood tests are relatively simple and not particularly painful for most people.
These proteins could form the basis of a blood test for the early detection of breast cancer in women at higher risk. It is important to note that we found more variation in protein levels in blood samples between different women than at different stages of the same woman who ended up developing breast cancer. This shows that tests should probably be based both on proteins that differ between women with and without breast cancer, and on proteins that change in an individual person over time,” says Sophie Hagenaars, from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
The researchers will now validate their findings in a larger group of women with and without breast cancer participating in the study. TESTBREAST and in women participating in other high-risk breast cancer research studies. “If further research validates our findings, this test could be used as an adjunct to existing screening techniques. Blood tests are relatively simple and not particularly painful for most people, so screening could be offered as often as needed,” Hagenaars comments.