Genetic cause of common breast tumors in women has been discovered by researchers, making it feasible for the doctors to differentiate benign tumors from cancerous ones.
A research team from the National Cancer Centre Singapore, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, and Singapore General Hospital found that a gene called MED12 is present in nearly 60 per cent of fibroadenomas. Fibroadenomas are the most common benign breast tumors in women.
According to the researchers, the identification of this particular gene in breast lumps may help in diagnosis.
"We choose surgery for patients when fibroadenomas are large or when they are symptomatic, meaning patients feel some discomfort. Sometimes these fibroadenomas are actually not very large, they are small. But patients are worried and of course there is the fear of cancer, the fear of dangerous tumours and they request for it to be removed," said Dr Benita Tan, senior consultant at Department of General Surgery at Singapore General Hospital, in a press release.
Doctors commonly face problems in distinguishing fibroadenomas from breast cancer. Despite a biopsy done on a patient, the amount of tissue obtained on a needle biopsy may not essentially mirror the entire tumour as the needle gets only a small part of the tumour.
However, this research claims to have found a solution for the problem. "So with this discovery, potentially it can be used as an adjunctive tool to indicate that the patient has a fibroadenomas and therefore does not have breast cancer, so this might alleviate episodes of surgery as well as relieve anxiety," said Professor Tan Puay Hoon, head and senior consultant of Department of Pathology at Singapore General Hospital.
Professor Hoon explained that this finding might prove helpful in reduction of hospitalisation costs, as surgery can be avoided and no additional steps need to be taken to make a diagnosis.
The researchers said they were hopeful that this diagnostic gene test could be completed and out in two to three years.
Moreover, the team said that they believe that in five to 10 years they can possibly find a drug that targets the MED12 gene causing the resolution of benign breast lumps. They said that this drug will prevent the patients from undergoing multiple surgeries.
