Hair test for breast cancer on the horizon

January 27, 2012 –  A HAIR test to screen for breast cancer is being developed by an Australian company which says it has the potential to become a viable alternative to mammography.

SBC Research is administering an 80-patient balloon to analysis its antecedent that women with breast blight accept college levels of phospholipids in their bloodstream that can be detected in hair.

The aggregation aims to commercialize the analysis and says it could be fabricated accessible to women of all ages as an antecedent screening, clashing mammography which is abundantly belted to women over 50.

They acclimated synchrotron X-ray technology to ascertain 70 per cent of women who had breast blight in a alternation of trials, by celebratory a arena in their beard not present in advantageous hair.

But advisers are now demography a altered access that they accept will bear a added authentic test.

They fabricated the lipid analysis back a researcher, Dharmica Mistry, who did not accept breast cancer, noticed that her beard developed a ring.

”I was looking at X-ray diffraction patterns of hair and I used to use my hair as a regular control,” she said.

”The only thing I did differently was using olive oil in my hair every now and then. I stopped using it and the feature disappeared.

”That led to a series of experiments to assess if what we were seeing was lipid in nature. The hypothesis is that the tumour causes increased lipids in the patient, which is released into the bloodstream and incorporated into the hair fibre.”

The arch scientist at SBC, Peter French, said there was affirmation to appearance added lipid agreeable in the membranes for blight cells, compared with accustomed tissue.

”Cell membranes are comprised of lipids, and what appears to appear in breast blight is that there is added alteration of those lipids. We anticipate that’s why blight is able to invade,” he said.

Ms Mistry said the analysis appropriate her to abstract centralized lipids from hair, rather than any secretions or articles on its surface.

”I grind the hair, put it in a vial with an extraction solvent and shake it around to extract the lipids from the fibre,” she said.

The resulting liquid is then analysed to determine its lipid content.

Mr French said a larger second study was needed to confirm the accuracy of the hair test. (SMH)