Screening

Perlegen Sciences plans to commercialize a new diagnostic test of breast cancer susceptibility. The markers were identified through research conducted by the University of Cambridge, Cancer Research Technology (CRT), and Cancer Research U.K. The study, published in the June issue of Nature, identified novel breast cancer susceptibility markers that are present in approximately 20% of U.K. breast cancer cases.

Studies show that older women are under-diagnosed and under-treated for breast cancer. Often age, rather than health status, is the deciding factor in determining how to care for the 80+ set. A recent article in Cancer has linked under-treatment to a greater risk of breast cancer recurrence in older women.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of women who were diagnosed with cancer in one breast detected over 90 percent of cancers in the other breast that were missed by mammography and clinical breast exam at initial diagnosis, according to a new study. Given the established rates of mammography and clinical breast exams for detecting cancer in the opposite, or contralateral breast, adding an MRI scan to the diagnostic evaluation effectively doubled the number of cancers immediately found in these women.

Results from a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showed that each successive annual mammogram lowered a woman's breast cancer mortality risk by about 31 percent. Compounding this benefit over a period of four years would cut a woman"™s cumulative risk of breast cancer death by 88 percent. Dr. Timothy L.

A new biopsy technique now makes it possible to obtain tissue samples during a vacuum-assisted breast biopsy procedure with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-assisted guidance. This method allows many samples to be taken through a single small incision in the skin, using only local anesthesia (numbing of the area).