Researchers have found that breast cancer may be successfully
detected up to five years before any symptoms appear using a blood test. The
results of this land mark study which could mean diagnosis of breast cancer
early and treating it more effectively, were presented at the 2019 NCRI Cancer
Conference Sunday (3rd November 2019).
Mammograms, a type of X-ray of the breasts used to screen
for breast cancer in women. This new research reveals the potential for blood
tests to help diagnose breast cancer five years before clinical signs appear.
Image Credit: Jose Luis Carrascosa / Shutterstock.
The team of
researchers have found that the body typically mounts an immune response to the
oncoming cancer before the clinical signs are detectable. These immune
responses could be determined using the blood test, explain the researchers.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham (UK) worked on the proteins that
were specifically produced by the cancer cells called tumour-associated antigens
(TAAs). They wrote that these antigens were specific for the cancer and led to
the activation of the immune system that begins to make antibodies against the
cancer. The team developed a panel of tumour-associated antigens which were
typically created by the breast cancer cells. Then they looked at the blood
samples to see if the body had developed autoantibodies against these TAAs.
The team that is
part of the Centre of Excellence for Autoimmunity in Cancer (CEAC) group at the
School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, included 90 breast cancer
patients in their pilot study. They took the blood samples from the patients
when they were diagnosed with the cancer and then matched them with a control
group of 90 women who did not have breast cancer.
Then they used a
special screening technology called the protein microarray to rapidly look at
the blood samples for presence of autoantibodies against 40 TAAs that they had
identified to be associated with breast cancer. The autoantibodies were also
compared with 27 TAAs that were not associated with breast cancer to rule out
bias or confounders.
Ms. Daniyah
Alfattani, a PhD student in the group, who presented the study results at the
NCRI Conference, said in a statement, “The results of our study showed that breast
cancer does induce autoantibodies against panels of specific tumour-associated
antigens. We were able to detect cancer with reasonable accuracy by identifying
these autoantibodies in the blood.â€
The team of
researchers have found that the body typically mounts an immune response to the
oncoming cancer before the clinical signs are detectable. These immune
responses could be determined using the blood test, explain the researchers.
Researchers at the University of Nottingham (UK) worked on the proteins that
were specifically produced by the cancer cells called tumour-associated
antigens (TAAs). They wrote that these antigens were specific for the cancer
and led to the activation of the immune system that begins to make antibodies
against the cancer. The team developed a panel of tumour-associated antigens
which were typically created by the breast cancer cells. Then they looked at
the blood samples to see if the body had developed autoantibodies against these
TAAs.
The team that is
part of the Centre of Excellence for Autoimmunity in Cancer (CEAC) group at the
School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, included 90 breast cancer
patients in their pilot study. They took the blood samples from the patients
when they were diagnosed with the cancer and then matched them with a control
group of 90 women who did not have breast cancer.
Then they used a
special screening technology called the protein microarray to rapidly look at
the blood samples for presence of autoantibodies against 40 TAAs that they had
identified to be associated with breast cancer. The autoantibodies were also
compared with 27 TAAs that were not associated with breast cancer to rule out
bias or confounders.
Ms. Daniyah
Alfattani, a PhD student in the group, who presented the study results at the
NCRI Conference, said in a statement, “The results of our study showed that
breast cancer does induce autoantibodies against panels of specific
tumour-associated antigens. We were able to detect cancer with reasonable
accuracy by identifying these autoantibodies in the blood.â€
For this study the team identified and created three panels
of TAAs against which they would test the autoantibodies. When they had more
number of TAAs in a panel, they found that the accuracy of the test improved.
They used a panel of five TAAs and breast cancer could be successfully detected
in only 29 percent of the samples from the cancer patients. Using this panel 84
percent could be declared cancer-free among the control group. Another panel
had seven TAAs and was successful in breast cancer detection in 35 percent
cases and certified 79 percent controls as cancer-free. The third panel with
nine TAAs could identify 37 percent of the cancers among the breast cancer
patients and declared 79 percent cancer-free among the controls.
Ms Alfattani added that this was a pilot test and more
needed to be done. She said, “We need to develop and further validate this
test. However, these results are encouraging and indicate that it's possible to
detect a signal for early breast cancer. Once we have improved the accuracy of
the test, then it opens the possibility of using a simple blood test to improve
early detection of the disease.â€
As a next step the team has now recruited 800 patients with
breast cancer and autoantibodies from their samples are being tested against a
panel of nine TAAs. Ms Alfattani said, “A blood test for early breast cancer
detection would be cost effective, which would be of particular value in low
and middle income countries. It would also be an easier screening method to
implement compared to current methods, such as mammography.†If this works, the
team believes that within next half a decade, the test might be available at
clinics for screening women from breast cancer.
According to Ms Alfattani, “A blood test capable of
detecting any of these cancers at an early stage is the over-riding objective
of our work.â€
Dr Iain Frame, CEO of NCRI, in his statement said, “Early
diagnosis using simple, non-invasive ways of detecting the first signs of
cancer is a key strategic priority for NCRI and something we'd all like to see
working in practice. The results from this pilot study for a blood test to
detect early breast cancer are promising and build on this research group's
expertise in other cancers, such as lung cancer. It's obviously early days but
we look forward to seeing the results from the larger group of patients that
are now being investigated.â€
Dr Kotryna Temcinaite, from charity Breast Cancer Now, said, “It’s really promising that a simple blood test could in future help clinicians detect autoantibodies that may arise before breast tumours develop. While these are early findings, it’s exciting that testing for these autoantibodies could potentially help detect breast cancer earlier or identify women who may benefit from being monitored more closely.â€
Another team is also working on detecting early lung cancer
among 12,000 Scottish smokers who are at risk of developing lung cancer
because. They are using a test called the ELISA (Early CDT-Lung) looking for
autoantibodies and a CT scan of the chest every couple of years to check for
onset of cancer. Similar work is also being done with colorectal cancers, liver
cancers and pancreatic cancers. The latter is particularly difficult to detect
early and when detected usually has a poor prognosis.
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