DALLAS, Texas (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new blood test could tell you if you have breast cancer before it shows up on a mammogram.
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Doctors say they’ve cracked a code that could save lives. They’ve created a test that can detect breast cancer even when a mammogram doesn’t. It’s called the BC-SeraPro.
“This is a test for measuring the concentration of proteins in the blood and how they differ from the normal state will tell is about the presence of disease,” Ira Goldknopf, Ph.D., director of proteomics at Power3 Medical in the Woodlands, Texas, told Ivanhoe.
Dr. Goldknopf has been studying proteomics for more than 30 years. Proteomics is similar to genetic testing, but while genetic testing screens for disease causing genes, proteomics looks for certain protein markers in a person’s blood
“The method analyzes specific proteins and these proteins show what is going on with the patient in terms of the disease and how the disease is playing out on the patient,” Dr. Goldknopf said.
Unlike mammograms, which give false positives 10% of the time and false negatives about 20%of the time, Dr. Essam Sheta, Ph.D., director of biochemistry at Power3 Medical, says the BC-SeraPro will be able to give a definite answer.
"You could say it can catch it before because we see some elements of that where the test says positive but a mammogram says negative." Dr. Sheta told Ivanhoe.
Early studies show the BC-SeraPro has a 90% success rate. It’s just one of two tests being launched by Power3 medical. A protein-based test for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s comes out later this year. The CEO of Power3 says it’s just the beginning. "Any disease that has a need we will be able to find a blood test for," Steve Rash, CEO of Power3 Medical, said.
Doctors say this test is ideal for women who are considered at high risk for breast cancer. The test should be available in breast cancer clinics early next year.
A simple blood test may be the newest tool for early breast cancer detection. It could also test for other diseases, all by looking at the protein in your blood.
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