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news.Proteomics company Power3 Medical Products has discovered a group of breast cancer protein biomarkers in preliminary studies of blood serum. According to the company, these biomarkers could eventually form the basis of an early screening test for the disease.
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Scientists at Power3 believe that they will be able to make this diagnosis by monitoring the blood serum concentrations of these proteins and then subjecting the results to biostatistical analysis.
In an initial study of samples from 76 women, the biostatistical analysis correctly identified all 18 women without breast cancer, and 32 of 33 women with breast cancer scored as having breast cancer and 1 scored as benign.
The company believes that by further evaluation of these promising biomarkers, it is likely that the basis of an early screening test for breast cancer will be established. Such a test may have utility with high risk women and possibly the general population of women as well.
Dr Alan Hollingsworth, principal investigator at Mercy Women’s Center, noted, “a great need exists for a screening test that will not only identify cancers currently being missed by mammography, but will also offer earlier detection. This discovery offers the hope of such a test and may be able to show whether a patient has breast cancer years prior to mammography, indicating the need for more aggressive imaging with ultrasound or MRI.”