Better Methods of Breast Cancer Detection Are Coming

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Better Methods of Breast Cancer Detection Are Coming
Not a fan of mammograms? Fortunately for us, efforts to improve breast cancer detection continue.
One new frontier of cancer detection that I find exciting is that of metabolomics.
Never heard of that? Read on!
Metabolomics involves the measurement of metabolites, the products of cell metabolism, in the blood via a simple blood test which is investigated using Mass Spectrometry.
Metabolites, it has been found, act as immediate indicators of disease processes and can serve as direct biomarkers reflecting pathogenic activities. [1]
Put more simply, metabolites obtained by a simple blood sample, are investigated and this provides a sort of signature that identifies unique biochemical fingerprints. These fingerprints can tell us much about our state of health, sometimes years before a disease manifests.
How exciting is that?!
This approach has the potential to change how breast cancer is detected, offering much better reliability and with less discomfort (oh how we hate the boob squish!).
Recent studies in metabolomics show promising capabilities to accurately identify cancer markers using metabolic signatures.
Metabolomics and Breast Cancer Detection
Metabolomics is the comprehensive study of chemicals in the blood associated with cellular energy production – known as metabolites. These metabolites that are present in the blood provide a signature that identifies unique biochemical fingerprints, known to be associated with diseases like breast cancer.
In a study done in 2018 [2], plasma samples taken from 59 women with untreated stage III breast cancer were compared with samples from 31 women who were at low risk of breast cancer. From these samples, researchers were able to identify clear differences in the metabolic signatures of the two groups.
Interestingly, the breast cancer patients’ plasma showed extreme reductions in levels of the amino acid glutamine, which were one-eighth the level found in the healthy individuals. In contrast, two other amino acids – aspartate and glutamate – were found to be ten times higher in the cancer patients compared with the healthy individuals.
In a December 2024 article [3] written by Morgan Bayer, assistant editor for the online journal Targeted Oncology and Targeted Therapies in Oncology, the reason for this is because the body stores energy sources such as glutamine. The decrease in glutamine and the increase in aspartate and glutamate suggest a process called glutaminolysis, which is often linked to cancer growth driven by the MYC gene.
Dr Robert Nagourney, medical and laboratory director at Rational Therapeutics in Irvine California, teacher of pharmacology at the University of California, Irvine, founder of Nagourney Cancer Institute, co-founder of Metabolomycs (he must be a very busy guy) and the lead author on the study at [2], stated “Clearly, cancer cells have found novel ways to survive, by exploiting our blood nutrients to their own advantage.”
He went on to say that the ratio of the amino acids glutamine and glutamate proved to be an extremely sensitive method for the detection of breast cancer. He stated that the glutamate to glutamine ratio can diagnose breast cancer with nearly 90% accuracy! It is Dr Nagourney’s hope that this test could be applied in the future to identify the onset of breast cancer years before other techniques like mammography or MRI can detect it.
This is pretty exciting stuff, ladies. This could offer us some really great benefits in terms of enhanced accuracy, reducing false positives and negatives, no more boob squishing or biopsies. It is so much less invasive, since it involves a simple blood sample. And the fact that by identifying metabolic changes associated with breast cancer could make earlier detection much easier – that’s absolutely crucial for improved survival rates.
Dr Nagourney indicated that although these findings are really promising, larger clinical trials would be required to validate what they’ve found so far.
This is so promising, though! I will keep you updated on the progress of this research.
References:
[1] Lipidomics and metabolomics as potential biomarkers for breast cancer progression – https://www.nature.com/articles/s44324-024-00027-0
[2] Inborn-like errors of metabolism are determinants of breast cancer risk, clinical response and survival: a study of human biochemical individuality – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6114970/
[3] Article: Dec 1 2024 – https://www.targetedonc.com/view/the-promise-of-metabolomics-to-transform-breast-cancer-screening
YouTube – Metabolomics – https://youtu.be/0cuTCimrSoM
About Marnie Clark
Hi I’m Marnie Clark, breast cancer survivor turned coach. I have 20 years of experience in natural medicine. In 2004/05 I battled breast cancer myself. You can see more about my journey on my page Breast Cancer Diary.
I’ve been healthy and recurrence-free since 2004 and in 2012 I became a Breast Cancer Coach because I became aware of the fact that whilst there is now a wealth of information on the Internet, much of it is confusing, conflicting, and sometimes just wrong!
So it is my duty to help you unconfuse and untangle all that information, and find what works for YOU.
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