‘It could revolutionize the way we treat breast cancer patients’: Professor welcomes blood test that can detect early recurrence of the disease

A blood test to detect early signs of breast cancer could revolutionize NHS care.

The test, which could save thousands of lives, picks up genetic material shed by cancer cells in the blood.

It can detect signs of the disease returning years before a scan. By identifying women at risk of recurrence early, doctors can begin targeted treatment that can, in some cases, prevent the cancer from coming back.

This is crucial because breast cancer that has been dormant in the body can reappear and become incurable in another part, such as the brain, liver or lungs.

It is now being tested in more than 1,000 people with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer.

About 40,000 women are diagnosed each year, and about 8,000 of them are at increased risk of the cancer returning.

The study will be conducted for six months in 20 centers.

Professor Nicholas Turner of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, who is leading the research, said: “The risk of recurrence in ER-positive breast cancer patients is spread over many years after initial treatment, which is one of the reasons why scans are ineffective. at pick up.

“Blood testing may become the standard way to follow up this patient population, and if the study shows encouraging results, it could revolutionize the way we treat ER-positive breast cancer patients.”

It is now being tested in more than 1,000 people with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. About 40,000 women are diagnosed each year, and about 8,000 of them are at increased risk of the cancer returning [File photo]

The study will enroll women with ER-positive breast cancer who have had surgery and are receiving hormone therapy. You will have a blood test every three months for up to three years to determine your risk of recurrence.

The test, which uses a person’s cancer genetic fingerprint, can detect small amounts of DNA from cancer cells in their body.

This indicates “molecular relapse”, which suggests that they relapse with cancer.

If the result shows very low levels of DNA from cancer cells in a person’s blood, they will be treated immediately.

Elaine Nangle (41) from Reading was diagnosed with stage three lobular breast cancer in 2020. When she was cancer free, she was given the opportunity to take part in the study at Royal Marsden.

She said: “To be part of something that can warn me about a relapse is amazing and just knowing that I’m being monitored so often gives me a big safety net.”

The NHS is also conducting a world first with the ‘Galleri’ blood test, which aims to detect more than 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear and could prevent one in ten cancer deaths in the UK.