New blood test warns 10 years in advance if lifestyle may put women at risk of breast cancer

• It would give them time to take preventative action – as simple as exercising regularly or losing weight – long before disease takes hold
• Finding by scientists at University College London involves first breast cancer screening tool to monitor scale of damage to genes from environmental factors
• Around 50,000 British women develop breast cancer each year – four out of five of them in the post-menopausal year

A new blood test could tell women if their lifestyle is putting them at risk of developing breast cancer.

Scientists say the test could identify those who are in danger ten years before any symptoms appear.

This would give them time to take preventative action – which can be as simple as exercising regularly or losing weight – long before the disease gets a hold.

The breakthrough could see women in their 50s and 60s having regular tests to monitor their risk level by the end of the decade.

If the scientists’ hopes are realised, the test could lead to dramatic falls in  the number of women who suffer from breast cancer.

A new blood test could tell women if their lifestyle is putting them at risk of developing breast cancer. Current tests that gauge your chance of breast cancer rely on identifying those with high-risk DNA, and they only work in 10 per cent of cases. Posed by model

The finding, by scientists at University College London, involves the first breast cancer screening tool that monitors the scale of  damage to genes from environmental factors such as smoking, diet, alcohol  consumption and the chemicals we come across in everyday life.

Current tests that gauge your chance of breast cancer rely on identifying those with high-risk DNA, and they only work in 10 per cent of cases.

They are useful in flagging up women with a faulty BRCA1  gene such as Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who last year had a  preventative mastectomy.

 

But until now scientists had no early screening method for non-inherited breast cancer, which makes up 90 per cent of cases.

The new test could be used in regular screening sessions for post-menopausal women.

Around 50,000 British women develop breast cancer each year – four out of five of them in the post-menopausal years.

Last year, Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie had a preventative mastectomy

The UCL researchers have now identified a ‘signature’ or ‘tag’ on the DNA of blood cells which is a reliable way of predicting those women who may go on to develop the disease.

The blood test, which they are developing, works by assessing how far environmental factors have affected the body’s genes.

It is not clear what proportion of women at increased risk of breast cancer display the signature, but the scientists hope the test could be used to assess a large proportion of women.

Professor Martin Widschwendter, the study’s lead author, said the test could identify those who are at risk of breast cancer ten years before any symptoms appear.

‘The main application would be in post-menopausal women,’ he said. ‘We would do this blood test every five years and then define a specific risk for individual women.

‘Depending on the risk we could tailor the prevention regime.

‘For example, for some women that could mean a change in  lifestyle, for others it could mean intensified screening. For those at highest risk it could be to use chemotherapy or other treatments for prevention.’

More work will be needed to develop the test for clinical use, but Professor Widschwendter is confident the additional research can be completed in five to seven years so the test could be ready for clinical use by 2020.

The UCL study, published today in the journal Genome Medicine, was welcomed by breast cancer charities.

Dr Matthew Lam, senior research officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: ‘These results are promising and we’re excited to learn how further research could build on these findings.’

He added: ‘This could mean that in the future a woman may be able to have a simple blood test to look for this DNA signature.

‘If she does have this signature, she could work with her doctor to explore the options available to help her take control of her risk.’

Dr Kat Arney, of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Looking at changes in the “tags” on DNA in blood cells taken from people before they develop cancer is an exciting area of breast cancer research.

‘It’s an intriguing finding but we need to understand much more about how these changes influence breast cancer risk before this knowledge can be turned into a screening test.’