Test ‘could detect cancer in 15 minutes’

A TEST that could help doctors detect breast cancer within 15 minutes of taking a blood sample could be just two years away thanks to the work of Irish scientists.

The research at Dublin City University (DCU) is still only at testing stage, but they have found a way of detecting a blood protein that is prominent in breast cancer patients at the early stages.

It was discovered about four years ago when research was being carried out on brain enzymes but they had to develop a test to distinguish it from the brain protein they were actually working on. At the same time, however, researchers internationally published findings that high levels of this protein were found in breast tissue taken from biopsies in breast cancer patients.