This project is developing a blood test to detect breast cancer. The team will collect blood from 3000 women at the time of their routine mammogram and from newly diagnosed breast cancer patients attending breast cancer clinics. The biospecimens will be used in ‘omics analysis including lipidomics to develop breast cancer screening and monitoring tools.
What is the issue for NSW?
1 in 7 women in NSW will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Breast cancer screening is important for early detection of breast cancer, if detected at a very early stage most women recover quickly and can lead a normal life.
The current breast cancer screening method is mammography. However, mammograms are not offered to women under 40 and breast screening by mammography is less effective in younger women due to denser breast tissue.
Breast cancer survival, outcomes and costs could be improved by development of a more accurate breast cancer screening tool.
This research aligns with the goals and objectives of NSW Women’s Health Framework and The NSW Cancer Plan.
What does the research aim to do and how?
This project aims to develop a blood test that can screen for breast cancer alongside other regular health check-ups. This will reduce the breast cancer burden and increase the quality of life for Australian women.
This project has novel data which reveals unique lipid-based signatures as biomarkers of breast cancer detection. Genomic and lipidomic profiling will be used to develop a circulating lipidome assay for the detection of recurrent malignancy. The accuracy of the test will be compared with circulating tumour DNA profiling. The collection will be accessible to a wide range of multiomics-based studies aimed at advancing breast cancer diagnostics.