Breast Cancer Screening with Hair

1999/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

A group of Australian scientists have developed a method of breast cancer detection through the study of hairs, which can completely speed up and facilitate breast cancer screening. Scientists at New South Wales University in Sydney have studied the hairs of healthy and sick women and found that they have a different molecular composition. Thus, chemical hair analysis is sufficient to detect breast cancer without using mammograms or scanner systems.

Scientists use X-rays dispersion of the sichrotron to locate the molecular changes of hairs that are occurring in follicles when the BRCA 1 gene mutation occurs. Mutation of the BRCA 1 gene is the cause of breast cancer and detection from the beginning is vital to cure it. This new system will improve the treatment of breast cancer and also offer greater security than the mammograms currently used.