Development of a blood test that can be used in conjunction with mammography to improve early detection of breast cancer is underway, funded by two grants of nearly $8 million.

"Our vision is that a simple blood test could be used along with mammography to detect breast cancer early in the disease process," said Nicole Urban, a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Public Health Sciences Division and principal investigator of both initiatives. "We are particularly interesting in markers that identify aggressive forms of breast cancer that are missed by mammography."

Mammography misses about one in five breast cancers overall and is least effective in younger women who have dense breasts that are difficult to x-ray.

"Despite decades of research on mammography as a tool for early detection of breast cancer, its efficacy remains in question, and some women still die of the disease despite annual screening," said Dr. Nancy Kiviat, professor of pathology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, co-principal investigator of the Department of Defense-funded Breast Cancer Center of Excellence.

"We have an opportunity to dramatically improve breast cancer detection and diagnosis by complementing mammography with molecular-screening tools that provide information about the genetic and cellular characteristics of their cancer and how it will behave," said Kiviat.

Other sources: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center