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Breast cancer test 'offers hope'
A new test that identifies seven distinct types of breast cancer offers new hope to women with the disease, scientists claim. The tumour sample test could be available within two years and is expected to lead to more personalised treatments.
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New test 'could be step towards personalised care'
Breast Cancer Campaign chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said a new test "could be a realistic step towards making the holy grail of personalised medicine a reality".
Baroness Morgan said:
New test 'identifies seven classes of breast cancer'
A new breast cancer test identifies seven classes of the disease, defined by different combinations and levels of 10 proteins found in breast cancer cells.
Each cancer type has a different effect on patient survival, according to the scientists whose findings are reported in the British Journal of Cancer.
The technology needed to measure the proteins in tumour samples already exists in most pathology laboratories across the UK, lead researcher Dr Andy Green, from the University of Nottingham, said.
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Scientists say new breast cancer test 'offers hope'
A new test that identifies seven distinct types of breast cancer offers new hope to women with the disease, scientists claim.
The tumour sample test could be available within two years and is expected to lead to more personalised treatments.
Identifying more biomarkers will help doctors tailor therapy plans that better suit their patients, avoiding over or under treatment, they said.
Scientists funded by the Breast Cancer Campaign looked for signature biomarkers in 1,073 tumour samples from the charity's tissue bank. They found that 93% fitted perfectly into one of seven classes. Another 7% had mixed characteristics and were harder to categorise.