From: fashiontimes.com
A new ten-minute breath test can help reduce the need for mammograms and x-rays may be effective in detecting breast cancer, according to reports.
The test, BreathLink, has been developed by scientists as a means to check for breast cancer. The results of their research showed that the kit is at least as accurate as breast X-rays typically used in hospitals.
The BreathLink kit is being developed by a US firm and is already for sale in Europe. It begins with a woman breathing for two minutes into a breathalyser. The air is then fed to a machine that analyzes the levels of chemicals present. Results are then processed through a computer which determines whether or not the chemical pattern found is a sign of breast cancer.
Michael Phillips, the man behind the breath test and a professor of medicine at New York Medical College, told MailOnline, “We know that if you get a negative result on the breast test, there is a better than 99.9 percent chance that a woman does not have breast cancer. That is the key thing, because in any screening program, the overwhelming majority of women who come in off the street do not have breast cancer.”
Results of the study that looked into the effectiveness of the breast test is published in PloS ONE.
Dr. Phillips stressed that bigger studies are still needed before his creation will become the first choice for breast cancer screening. “I am optimistic that in years to come, people will start to look at breath tests as a global test. Something that can be used to screen for many different diseases – different cancers and different infections.”
British experts have also claimed that the new test is exciting but is still in its early days. Martin Ledwick of Cancer Research in UK said, “This is a small pilot study for an interesting idea.”
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