Breast cancer program
The size of a breast cancer tumor and how far the cancer has spread are the most important factors in predicting the outlook for the chances of survival of a woman with this disease. Finding breast cancer early improves the likelihood that treatment will be successful. Most doctors feel that early detection tests for breast cancer save many thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women and their healthcare providers took advantage of the tests.
Screening examinations are the current diagnostic tools used to detect breast cancer. The goal of screening exams for early breast cancer detection is to find cancers before they start to cause symptoms. Breast cancers that are detected by physical examination tend to be larger and are more likely to have spread beyond the breast. In contrast, breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be small and still confined to the breast.
Screening for breast cancer
Mammogram
A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast. A diagnostic mammogram is used to diagnose breast disease in women who have symptoms. Screening mammograms are used to look for breast disease in women who have no symptoms.
Disadvantages of the mammogram include:
- A mammogram cannot prove that an abnormal area is cancer, to confirm whether cancer is present, a biopsy is required
- They are imperfect at finding breast cancer
- They are less effective in younger women
Clinical breast exam (CBE)
Clinical breast examinations are used along with mammograms to check women for breast cancer. CBE is an exam of a woman's breasts by a health care professional and may be part of a regular checkup.
Breast self exam (BSE)
A breast self exam involves both visual and physical examination of the breasts. While BSE helps a woman to learn what is normal for her breasts so that she will notice changes, mammography and clinical breast examinations are currently the most reliable methods of finding breast cancer.
The diagnosis of breast cancer could be dramatically improved with the availability of a reliable biomarker test.
Miraculins' breast cancer diagnostic test
In September 2006, Miraculins announced the expansion of its product pipeline to include a new diagnostic research program for breast cancer.
Miraculins' breast cancer diagnostic is currently under development. It is a simple blood test designed to detect breast cancer in the early stages. It can be used to correctly identify breast cancer positives, while correctly classifying those without cancer with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity.
This test has the ability to positively impact patient mortality, as well as improve the quality of care for breast cancer patients.
Breast cancer facts
- Is a malignant tumor that has developed from cells of the breast
- Occurs almost exclusively in women, but can also develop in men
- Most breast cancers begin in the cells that line the ducts, some begin in the cells that line the lobules, and the remainder in other tissues
- Ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer
- The most common cancer among women, except for nonmelanoma skin cancers
- Second leading cause of cancer deaths in women, exceeded only by lung cancer
- North American women have the highest rate of breast cancer in the world
- Breast cancer will be responsible for the deaths of 1 in 33 women