To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - BREAST CANCER: Nipple Fluid Can Detect Cancer URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1508C6.htm Doctor's Guide December 14, 1999
By Robert Carlson Special to DG News SAN ANTONIO, TX -- December 14, 1999 -- A test is being developed which promises to detect very early breast cancer, even pre-malignant breast cells, by analyzing fluid aspirated by a small pump from a woman's nipple. If it proves sufficiently accurate, the test could become a wide-spread screening tool. This technique, where malignant cells can be found in fluid expressed from the breasts of women with breast cancer, was first suggested as a diagnostic test in the 1950s by Dr. Papanicolaou (the inventor of the Pap smear). Research in the 1970s found a correlation between atypical, or premalignant, breast cells in the fluid and subsequent development of breast cancer. A diagnostic test was never developed any further, however, because fluid could be expressed from only a small percentage of women. Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles are tackling that obstacle with a technique which combines breast massage, done by the woman, with fluid aspiration done by a technician using a device similar to the pump nursing mothers use to aspirate breast milk. The principal investigator on the project is Susan Love, MD, a well-known breast-cancer surgeon at UCLA, who is also working to develop diagnostic tests for rapid analysis of the fluid. The UCLA researchers report a success rate of more than 80 percent in obtaining fluid, in a test with 60 volunteers from clinics at UCLA and at Olive View Medical Center, Los Angeles. They did say that a technician would need to practice on about 30 cases before the yield was significant enough to make the test suitable for screening purposes. Success in obtaining fluid was not influenced by the women's menopausal status and was not improved significantly when the breast was heated with heating pads, when the women leaned forward, or when the nipple was cleaned with Cerumenex, a solution more commonly used to clean out ear wax. The most important element to success in the technique was the woman's self-massage before and after nipple aspiration, said Dawanda R. Pesicka, clinical trials coordinator for the project, during a presentation at this meeting. She said subjects were instructed to manually express their breasts, placing hands flat around the base of the breast and squeezing down toward the tip of the nipple. If fluid was not seen, the suction cup device was used while the massage was continued. The UCLA researchers concluded that nipple-fluid collection is a feasible non-invasive technique for detecting pre-cancerous conditions in high-risk women, but that there is a definite learning curve before the yield is acceptable. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.