Tag: molecular biology

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The Value of Molecular Diagnostics

To better understand the technology that BreastDefense is using, a report byAdvaMedDxgives is a very good overview of the molecular diagnostic field.

“The introduction and expanding use of molecular diagnostic tests to detect cancer and manage cancer care mark a major milestone and herald future progress in the fight against this disease – begins the report by AdvaMedDx a trade association that leads the effort to advance medical technology.

Advances in diagnostics technologies and in our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of cancer at a molecular level are driving the development of new treatments and diagnostic tests.

Molecular diagnostics can assess a person’s risk of developing a disease, determine whether a person is a carrier of a hereditary condition, screen for diseases that are present but not yet symptomatic, provide a diagnosis of existing symptoms, or monitor how a patient is responding to treatments.

The brief report is intended to concisely summarize the complex science underlying the use of molecular diagnostics, particularly genetic tests, and their application in cancer screening, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment selection, and monitoring.

The specific and actionable insights that molecular diagnostics provide at every stage of care make them one of the most dynamic and transformative areas of diagnostics health care. “

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Young Women with Breast Cancer – The Forgotten Generation?

Are young women a forgotten generation when it comes to breast cancer?  Thousands of young women are diagnosed every year. They often face the most aggressive cancers.

One young Canadian women, profiled in Rachel Ray Everyday shared her story.  Judit Saunders was 26 years old and working as a registered nurse at a major children’s hospital in Calgary when she discovered a lump. She was diagnosed with hormonally driven HER2 positive breast cancer. She went through all the standard care treatments. Two and a half years later , it came back as stage four breast cancer. Now, she is in treatment for life, but she hasn’t let the disease stop her from living.

BreastDefense could make the ongoing monitoring of cancer easier.

When cancer is diagnosed in a young person it is a very different experience than when diagnosed mid to late life. “In the young adult years, you’re really laying the foundation for the rest of your life. Finishing school, starting careers, starting a family” says Geoff Eaton, Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC) executive director and two time cancer survivor.

Young Adult Cancer Canada has teamed up with Memorial University to conduct a study that hopes to shed more light on the challenges of young adults with cancer.  “we’re spending more money on people who are kind of past the majority of their life and ignoring the people who have most of their life still to live” says MUN’s Dr. Shelia Garland. The Prime Study – named since it is examining people who are diagnosed with cancer in the prime of their lives – has seen 500 young adult cancer survivors weigh in with their own experiences.. The aim is to explore the physical, social and emotional challenges facing young adults with cancer.

The majority of breast cancers – 51% , are women between the ages of 50 and 69. But there are still many many women under the age of 40 – (over a 1000 new cases a year in Canada),  that get the news from their doctor that they have breast cancer.

BreastDefense is a simple test that could benefit breast cancer survivors in monitoring remission.