Early detection of breast cancer: new biomarker tests on the horizon?

When cancer is detected early, patients live longer, require less extensive treatment, and in general fare better than patients with more advanced disease. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. Breast cancer screening through mammography has shown significant mortality reduction in clinical trials through the early detection of disease. This article aims to outline novel methods of indirect and direct detection of breast cancer through biomarkers. Proteomics and gene expression profiling methods will likely be important tools in regard to cancer detection in the future. Blood-based biomarker development is the furthest along and, either in the form of proteins or RNA, shows promise to lead to early detection techniques. Unfortunately, procedures aiming to analyze the breast tissue more directly have not had the desired outcomes thus far for the early detection of breast cancer. Appropriate development of these potential early detection and diagnostic tests is necessary prior to their clinical application, with special attention to their specificity to avoid overdiagnosis.