Breast milk tests 'may lead to early cancer diagnosis'.

TESTING breast milk could lead to the earlier diagnosis of breast cancer, researchers believe.

Scientists at the University of Manchester are examining whether circulating tumour DNA from cancer, which can show up in breast milk, could identify the disease earlier than a blood test or scan.

Breastfeeding is known to lower the risk of breast cancer in the long term, but women have a higher risk during pregnancy and after giving birth.

Some women also have genetic faults that put them at higher risk of the disease when they are young.

Dr Niki Flaum, who is leading the study and is a consultant oncologist at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, said: "There is an urgent need to find better, more reliable ways to detect breast cancer in women during and after pregnancy.

"We believe breast milk may provide a unique and non-invasive window into what is happening inside the breast.

"We know surprisingly little about the genetic changes to breast milk, as this bio-fluid has been remarkably under-researched until now.

"Pregnancy-related breast cancer is more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage, when the cancer has already spread, and survival outcomes are significantly worse compared with women of the same age who have not recently given birth.

"Diagnosis is particularly challenging because breast imaging during pregnancy and lactation is often unreliable.

"If reliable methods for detecting cancer-related DNA in breast milk can be found, we hope future research will test whether this approach could be developed into a screening tool for women with breast cancer or those at high risk."

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in women aged 35 to 64 in the UK.

Pregnancy-related breast cancer is thought to affect one in 3,000 pregnancies, but the risk can be as high as one in 50 among those at higher risk, such as women carrying a faulty BRCA gene.

The new research, funded by The Christie Charity, is initially recruiting 40 women producing breast milk - 25 with general population risk and 15 from a high-risk category where there is a family history of breast cancer.

The aim is to create a Manchester Breast Biofluid Biobank with more than 200 samples available for future research.

The University of Manchester team will analyse the samples of fluid at the National Biomarker Centre at the Christie.

Louise Hadley, chief executive of The Christie Charity, said: "We are very pleased to be able to fund this important research which could improve early detection of breast cancer in high-risk women, including BRCA carrier, enable screening specifically for pregnancy-related breast cancer and help predict risk of postpartum breast cancer.

"It would also provide reassurance for high-risk women wishing to breastfeed, who are currently often advised to stop early so MRI screening can resume.

"This support is part of The Christie Charity's commitment to providing PS30m of much-needed funding by 2030 to enable our brightest researchers to make game-changing discoveries right here in Manchester."

CAPTION(S):

The Christie in Manchester