New Breast Cancer Test May Remove Questions About How Much Treatment Needed
Imagine this. Instead of a painful mammogram or biopsy, some day soon doctors may be able to tell if you have breast cancer -- and its severity -- from your urine.
According to newswise.com, a researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology has devised a way to detect biomarkers that indicate breast cancer in urine even before a mammogram picks it up.
An excessively high concentration of certain metabolites can indicate the presence of cancer, the story reports, all from a simple urinalysis.
What really speaks to me is the possibility that this simple test could possibly figure out whether you have a cancer that needs to be treated right away, or one that is less aggressive and may need no treatment. I was in that in-between box, and unfortunately, for right now, all potential cancers (like DCIS) are treated as though they truly are cancer because those of us with this cellular abnormality are at very high risk of developing invasive cancer.
My case of DCIS was the most aggressive type so there was an excellent chance I was on the way to developing invasive cancer, so I have no regrets at catching it before it did. But for other women who may have less fast-moving abnormal cells, such drastic treatment may not be required. That's one of the biggest areas of controversy in treating breast cancer right now because no test up to this point has been able to prove definitively which pre-cancers go on to become full-fledged cancers, and which don't, but women with DCIS are treated as though they do have cancer because they are at the highest risk.
Testing is proceeding on this new method and it won't be available for some time. But it gives me hope that others may not have to go through what I did, all just "in case."
According to newswise.com, a researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology has devised a way to detect biomarkers that indicate breast cancer in urine even before a mammogram picks it up.
An excessively high concentration of certain metabolites can indicate the presence of cancer, the story reports, all from a simple urinalysis.
What really speaks to me is the possibility that this simple test could possibly figure out whether you have a cancer that needs to be treated right away, or one that is less aggressive and may need no treatment. I was in that in-between box, and unfortunately, for right now, all potential cancers (like DCIS) are treated as though they truly are cancer because those of us with this cellular abnormality are at very high risk of developing invasive cancer.
My case of DCIS was the most aggressive type so there was an excellent chance I was on the way to developing invasive cancer, so I have no regrets at catching it before it did. But for other women who may have less fast-moving abnormal cells, such drastic treatment may not be required. That's one of the biggest areas of controversy in treating breast cancer right now because no test up to this point has been able to prove definitively which pre-cancers go on to become full-fledged cancers, and which don't, but women with DCIS are treated as though they do have cancer because they are at the highest risk.
Testing is proceeding on this new method and it won't be available for some time. But it gives me hope that others may not have to go through what I did, all just "in case."
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