2023-10-19 19:00:00
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Breast cancer will affect 1 in 8 Spanish women throughout his life. This is provided for by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, which every October 19 reminds us of the prevalence of this disease in the world and the need to continue research to reduce the number of diagnoses.
The fight on the part of the patients – who in 99.5% of cases are women – and the scientific community does not stop, despite being heartbreaking. So much so that, although It is still the most common cancer in the worldthe figures from the Ministry of Health show that there have been great advances: in Spain in 2023, the overall survival 5 years after the diagnosis of this tumor is 82,8%while in the period 1980-1985 stood at 64%.
The search for new biomarkers to detect it early, technological innovation in diagnosis and the discovery of less invasive techniques have been fundamental keys to reducing this rate. That is why, in the Day to Fight Breast Cancerit is essential to emphasize, not only the losses that this severe disease generates annually, but also the the most recent advanceswhich give hope to end it.
When Artificial Intelligence joins the fight
In breast cancer, the stage of development at which the diagnosis is made completely determines the survival rate. In fact, the healing potential of this pathology, if detected in its initial stageis practically 100%, according to the Spanish Society of Senology and Breast Pathology (SESPM).
Although it is important to investigate possible cures for the disease, one of the great challenges of science is to target the early diagnostic. Thus, in August 2023, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) designed a device that uses the Artificial Intelligence to detect breast tumors in its earliest stages.
One of its notable features has to do precisely with the self-exploration capacity that it offers, since it is a device flexible and portablerelatively small in size and made using 3D printing, which is attached to a bra.
Although the project is still a prototype, the results are promising, since it would allow the user to carry a own routine control anytime, anywhere, making breast cancer screening much more frequent, a practice that could save the life of many patients.
Breast milk, a hope in early diagnosis
A team from the Vall d’Hebron Hospital (Barcelona) discovered in September of this year that breast milk from patients diagnosed during pregnancy or postpartum It contains a type of DNA that could be used to detect the tumor early in the future.
Breast milk offers hope for breast cancer diagnosis
In recent years, the liquid biopsy has been performed due to proximity to the tumor locationFor example, urine analysis has been useful in detecting bladder cancer, and saliva analysis has been useful in detecting head and neck cancer. Thus, a sample of frozen breast milk was taken from a patient –more than a year before your diagnosis– and it was confirmed that it had DNA with the same mutation that was present in the tumor.
When the trial was conducted more broadly, the results were still significant: they found the same mutations that were present in the tumor of 13 of the 15 samples, which means that liquid biopsy through breast milk could not only be a technique much more effective for diagnosis, but also much less invasive than those currently used.
Breast cancer in 5 biomarkers
A study carried out by a team of scientists from Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) of Barcelona he found five biomarkers present in the blood that allow us to know the exact risk of contracting breast cancer: miR-125b, miR-29c, miR-16, miR-1260 and miR-451.
Of all of them, it was found that the most suspicious was miR-16. This controls the CD44 protein, which is directly related to a very aggressive type of breast cancer.
With this, the researchers discovered that miR-16 levels too low They resulted in elevated CD44 expression, suggesting a high risk of contracting this aggressive breast cancer. The conclusion, then, is that this non-invasive technique could be used regularly as molecular screening in patients with a higher risk index.
Resolving the ethnic gap in diagnosis
Breast cancer can affect all women in the world, regardless of their ethnicity. However, there is not much racial diversity in clinical trials and therefore black women are less likely than white women to receive breast cancer treatment that follows medical guidelines.
That was the starting point of the two investigations led by Collen Masimirembwa, scientific director of the African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology (AiBST), which demonstrated what increasing drug doses in black patients could lead to a better treatment outcome.
Thus, studies have not only made leaps and bounds in the fight to resolve the ethnic gap in health, but also in improving the survival rate of black women, who They are 28% more likely to die from this diseaseaccording to data published in the magazine JAMA Networkbecause the treatment they receive is not formulated to take into account their genetic makeup.
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