A study looking at a new blood test to help diagnose breast cancer

This study was testing a new blood test which may help doctors to diagnose breast cancer from a breast X-ray (mammogram).

Finding breast cancer early makes it easier to treat. One way of detecting breast cancer is with a mammogram. But sometimes the pictures may not be clear. So you may need to come back for more X-rays to help the doctor decide if you need to have treatment or not.

Scientists in America had developed a blood test to help doctors work out whether or not what they see on the mammogram is likely to be cancer. This blood test measures a set of proteins (biomarkers) that are involved in various stages of breast cancer development. Doctors could combine the results of the blood test with other information about their patient. When they put all this information into a computer programme, they got a score that showed how likely the person was to have breast cancer.

A pilot study of this test in America had shown encouraging results. The aim of this study was to try this test on a sample of women from the Cambridge Breast Unit in the UK to see if the results were reliable.