Latest research supports early diagnosis of breast cancer

By Chris Cook, head of

research, development and innovation

The University of Cambridge, together with Cancer Research UK, have developed a study called EMBED, which stands for early markers for breast cancer detection.

EMBED is a prospective cohort study of women at an increased lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and to look for blood-markers that would enable an earlier diagnosis of the disease.

This study is taking place in the family history clinic, based in the Breast Unit at St Margaret’s Hospital and is being run by our research, development and innovation team and with Dr Ashraf Patel, associate specialist in breast surgery, as the principal investigator (pictured, right).

A blood test has been developed that could provide an earlier diagnosis of breast cancer. Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is an important blood marker in detecting breast cancer. Therefore, being able to detect small amounts of ctDNA in the blood could be an important step for an earlier diagnosis of the disease in the future.

Once the participant has consented, they will have a blood sample taken. By providing a blood sample, tests can be refined in readiness for a large study, in which blood samples will be collected from women who have a strong family history of breast cancer.

Participants will not benefit personally from this study as we are not testing samples for a diagnosis of breast cancer, but participants could be helping generations of women in the future to get earlier diagnosis and treatment for the disease. We currently have 15 patients at PAHT who are participating in the trial and we are one of 20 centres in the UK to recruit to this particular study.

Thank you to everyone involved in this vital research. For more information, please contact me at chris.cook6@nhs.net.

Showcase your work in the next edition of Our Journal

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in the first four editions of Our Journal. It has been excellent to showcase your work, with a broad range of articles written by our clinical people, for our clinical people.

Please contact us at paht.communications@nhs.net to feature in the next edition - publishing July 2022.