Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C0pH9cArYEY/ Analysis of breast milk and detection of cell-free tumor DNA, cfDNA, the so-called liquid tumor biopsy for early detection of breast cancer, is nearly 11 times more effective than using blood..  Spanish researchers studied 19 women who developed breast cancer during or shortly after pregnancy and a control group of 12 healthy breast milk donors. The data showed that the concentration of cfDNA was 90-fold higher in breast milk compared with blood.  As a result, it is possible to detect the presence of breast cancer using breast milk in 87% of cases compared with only 8% of cases using blood.  This method’s overall sensitivity is 71% and its specificity is 100%.  In two cases, breast milk liquid biopsy detected cancer 6 to 18 months earlier than standard diagnostic methods. Using $$ breast milk for an earlier diagnosis can be the driver for complete eradication of breast cancer with minimally invasive surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.  The technique will