A simple blood test could offer many women an early warning of breast cancer even if they did not inherit genes linked to the disease. Scientists from [b]University College London[/b] have identified a molecular ‘switch’ in blood samples that increases a woman’s chances of having breast cancer, reports [s]The Guardian[/s]. The marker is associated with the BRCA1 breast cancer gene, but was also found in women without the mutation who developed the disease. A woman with the BRCA1 gene has an 85% risk of developing breast cancer, leading some carriers to take the drastic step of breast removal. But until now there has been no reliable way of predicting the likelihood of non-inherited breast cancer.
[link url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/27/blood-test-early-warning-breast-cancer]Full report in The Guardian[/link]
[link url=http://genomemedicine.com/content/6/6/47/abstract]Genome Medicine abstract[/link]