Researchers from Malaga create a new system for early detection of breast cancer

Researchers from the Malaga Institute of Biomedical Research and Nanomedicine Platform (Ibima BIONAND Platform) have taken another step in the early detection of breast cancer, as they announced in a press conference sent to the media. The study, published in the scientific journal “npj Breast Cancer”, was carried out by the Director of the Malaga Cancer Research Center (CIMO), the Director of the Intercentre Oncology Clinical Unit of the Regional University Hospitals of Malaga and Virgen de la Victoria and the Director of the Center for Medical and Medical Research (CIMES) of the University Malaga Emilio Alba together with the leading researcher of the Laboratory of Experimental Liquid Biopsy of the group “CIMO 1 – Clinical and Translational Cancer Research” of the Iñaki Institute. Comino, which highlights the potential of a new “ultrasensitive” methodology for dual identification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of patients with localized breast cancer.

Specifically, as described by the research site, this new study is based on increasing the volume of blood samples extracted, allowing for “more accurate” detection of ctDNA and CTC. In this way, response to treatment can be detected and early diagnosis of possible disease relapse can be made and, therefore, the clinical management of such patients can be improved. This new methodology may represent a more effective early intervention tool for oncologists before obvious clinical relapse occurs.

Iñaki Comino himself explains that the goal of the study was to improve the sensitivity and accuracy of the ctDNA and CTC tests. “Ultra-sensitive monitoring of treatment response and early detection of cancer recurrence can be critical to extending survival and improving patients’ quality of life. Thanks to this new methodology, we were able to identify the persistence of breast cancer even after treatment aimed at eradicating the disease. This discovery will enable more timely and personalized clinical management of patients,” says the researcher.

Study

The study involved patients with early breast cancer, from whom blood samples were taken periodically during treatment. These samples were analyzed using advanced technologies that can detect extremely low levels of ctDNA and CTC. Thus, the presence of these components and their evolution over time during treatment made it possible to distinguish between those patients who responded to it and those whose disease finally relapsed after surgery. In this sense, Dr. Comino assured that “this achievement is not only an achievement for our team, but also an example of how interdisciplinary collaboration and the use of cutting-edge technologies can lead to life-changing discoveries.” Time, who said he feels “very gratified to be contributing a grain of sand to transforming the clinical treatment of breast cancer.”

Implementation of this methodology into clinical practice could improve the clinical outlook for patients with localized breast cancer who have not responded to primary treatment and may experience recurrence in the future. Additionally, one of the advantages of this discovery is that it uses a minimally invasive procedure such as drawing a blood sample. In addition, this method can be adapted to other types of cancer, which will expand its impact in modern oncology.

It should be added that researcher Iñaki Comino received postdoctoral support with the support of a Carmen Lavigne award through the Spanish Association Against Cancer. In addition, this scientific publication is part of the project “Prevention and early detection of relapses in breast cancer patients using blood samples”, implemented at the institute with the support of the Unicaja Foundation, as well as two other research projects in the field of oncology. all of which are coordinated by Emilio Alba himself.

“The present and future of oncology is to detect cancer, even when it is minimally present, so that we can apply personalized and precision medicine to treat it more effectively,” says Comino.