Page 18

ADVANCE for Medical Laboratory Professionals • February/March 2016

18 ADVANCE FOR MEDICAL LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS CANCER SCREENING FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016 / The best strategy to prevent late-stage diagnosis is through continual cancer screenings and, as a result, it’s recommended that women start getting yearly mammograms at the age of 45.” DETECT TO PROTECT As treatment options are related to the stage at which cancer is diagnosed, it is assumed earlier detection yields a better rate of survival, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The best strategy to prevent late-stage diagnosis is through continual cancer screenings and, as a result, it’s recommended that women start getting yearly mammograms at the age of 45. However, these imaging tests are not foolproof. The NIH approximates 20% of breast cancers present at the time of screening go undetected, which is why patients and their providers need to be vigilant with detection methods and screenings.2 To start, physicians should be mindful that high breast density is the reason so many cancers go undetected by mammography. “Right now, what they’re trying to do is use an ultrasound—an ultrasound as a screening tool has its drawbacks. Yes it picks up cancers but there are so many false-positives,” said Rahul Puri, CEO of OncoTab. “So those women are going in and having unnecessary biopsies. And MRIs are very expensive—they can’t be used as a screening tool for 39 million women who have mammograms each year.” The four categories of breast density are extremely fatty, scattered areas of fibroglandular density, heterogeneously dense and extremely dense.3 Targeting samples of heterogeneously dense and extremely dense breast tissue, OncoTab developed Agkura, a non-invasive blood test that can help detect breast cancer using TAB-004, a patented, monoclonal antibody. In January, they released the findings of their clinical study. “For women with dense breast tissue, there are not currently a lot of other great options to supplement conventional breast imaging,” explained Chad Livasy, MD, a breast pathologist for the Carolinas Health System who worked on the study. “We certainly needed something MORE ON THE WEB Using molecular diagnostics to predict those most likely to acquire and succumb to chronic disease allows a tailored approach to a healthier lifestyle. More …


ADVANCE for Medical Laboratory Professionals • February/March 2016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above