Blood test can predict future breast cancer

Scientists have discovered that a method known as biocontour profiling can predict breast cancer.

A research team at the University of Copenhagen used blood samples and found that metabolic profiling of blood plasma can forecast breast cancer 2-5 years prior to development.

“The method is better than mammography, which can only be used when the disease has already occurred. It is not perfect, but it is truly amazing that we can predict breast cancer years into the future” said Rasmus Bro, a Professor of Chemometrics in the Department of Food Science at University of Copenhagen.

In the study, published in Metabolomics, the scientists adopted a method that is applied in food science for complex industrial process control. To create a metabolic blood profile, the team analysed all compounds of a blood sample rather than examining a single biomarker in relation to the disease.

“When a huge amount of relevant measurements from many individuals is used to assess health risks – here breast cancer – it creates very high quality information. The more measurements our analyses contain, the better the model handles complex problems,” added Professor Bro.

The results showed that this biocontour can define complex pattern of relevant biological, physical and biochemical information. The team found that it can predict increased risk of breast cancer 2-5 years prior to development with sensitivity of more than 80%.

“The potential is that we can detect a disease like breast cancer much earlier than today. This is important as it is easier to treat if you discover it early. In the long term, it will probably also be possible to use similar models to predict other diseases,” said research partner Professor Lars Dragsted.

The scientists hope that metabolic forecasting of cancer will open new possibilities for early prediction of individual cancer risk and will provide a more efficient method for screening.

Paper: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11306-015-0793-8