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23 July 2008
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Pain- and radiation-free test for breast cancer studied
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MedWire News: A portable device that uses an electrical current rather than X-rays could soon provide a discomfort-free addition to traditional mammograms for detecting breast cancer, say researchers.
The new test, called homologous electrical difference analysis, is based on evidence that an electrical current passes through cancerous tissue differently than through normal tissue.
The procedure involves placing small groupings of electrodes over a patient's breasts, though which small, painless amounts of electricity are passed.
Unlike traditional mammograms, a computer then uses the electrical signature of the breast tissue to immediately identify whether a patient has a suspicious lump.
To test the effectiveness of the device, Dr James Craft and colleagues from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, USA, will be enrolling women aged between 40 and 50 years.
The researchers explain that women older than 50 years tend to have less dense breast tissue than younger women, so cancer is easier to find. Therefore, the study will be a tough test of the technology, said Dr Croft.
Women who undergo homologous electrical difference analysis will also be required to have a mammogram within 90 days, so that the results of the two techniques can be compared.
"This method doesn't use radiation, is portable and there is no pain associated with the squeezing that mammograms require," said Dr Craft.
However, he doubts that the test will replace traditional mammography.
"I can see it being used as an additional test. I don't think it will replace mammography, but it could increase our chances of catching breast cancer," he concluded.
Medical College of Georgia
http://www.mcg.edu/
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© CMG
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