Breast scan may cut scares by 70 per cent

by JAMES CHAPMAN, Daily Mail

A test for breast cancer has been developed which can detect instantly whether a lump is cancerous or benign, say doctors.

The scanning technique could cut false alarms by 70 per cent and save thousands of women the trauma of investigative surgery.

A trial involving 200 women suggests the system could speed diagnosis. It might even detect cancerous cells earlier, revealing tumours too small to show up on mammograms.

At the moment, lumps are found using mammograms, which are simple X-ray scans. Then part of the lump has to be removed through a biopsy - an invasive procedure in which a needle is inserted to extract tissue that can be examined under a microscope.

A biopsy is currently the only way to tell whether a lump is malignant or not. Between 60 and 80 per cent of tumours turn out to be benign.

Biopsies are expensive and traumatic, but specialists stress that it is better to carry out a biopsy than to endanger a woman's life.

Breast cancer is now the most common form of the disease in Britain. It affects about one in ten women in their lifetime, with about 39,500 new cases and 13,000 deaths every year.

The new system, developed by U.S. company DOBI Medical Systems, looks for the network of blood vessels that supply growing tumours.

It can help to determine which lumps are cancerous without a biopsy, says a report in New Scientist.

In the machine, the breast is gently squeezed between an array of bright red lights and a camera.

The pressure, which is less than that applied in a mammogram, squeezes blood out of most of the breast. But some remains in the dense network of capillaries that are seen in fast-growing tumours.

Since blood absorbs red light, a cancerous region shows up as a dark blob and can be matched up with the suspicious area in the mammogram.

The DOBI scans could be particularly useful in younger women. Their breast tissue is denser, making tumours more difficult to detect.

The system will undergo clinical trials later this year and could be available within two to three years.

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