New saliva test 'can detect various cancers'

Japanese and US universities have jointly developed a medical technique that can quickly detect various cancers using a simple saliva test, researchers said on Tuesday.

Japan's Keio University and University of California, Los Angeles, have developed the technology with which they detected high probabilities of pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and oral cancer.

The researchers analysed saliva samples of 215 people, including cancer patients, and identified 54 substances whose presence can be used to detect the disease, Keio University said in a statement released Monday.

By further analysing the substances, the test detected 99 percent of pancreatic cancer cases, 95 percent of breast cancer and 80 percent of oral cancer cases among those taking part, it said.

Breast cancer kills more uninsured blacks

Underinsured African-American women die more often from breast cancer than underinsured white women, even when treated at the same hospital by the same doctors, researchers said Wednesday.

And it's not because they get different treatment, the researchers said.

"When you have the same physician pretty much giving the same treatment to all women, then African-Americans will make the same treatment decisions as everybody else," said Dr. Ian K. Komenaka, of Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, who led the study.

Blood test detects breast cancer before any sign of a lump

A blood test that detects breast cancer more than a year before any symptoms appear could dramatically improve survival rates.

The test looks for raised levels of a certain protein that is already known to increase once cancer has developed. But in a new study, researchers found levels of the protein, called epidermal growth factor receptor, were already high up to 17 months before women were diagnosed with breast cancer.

The test, announced at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington DC, could herald a breakthrough in the search for a so-called 'biomarker' that indicates the presence of cancer before the patient or doctors suspect anything is wrong.

Counseling Improves Survival Rate When Breast Cancer Recurs

Breast cancer survivors facing the disease a second time are more likely to live longer if they get psychological counseling.

The new study builds on previous research into the physical benefits for cancer patients who get counseling as well as medical care.

Scotland: Older breast cancer patients 'miss out' on treatment

About 4,000 women in Scotland are diagnosed with breast cancer each year with the disease claiming more than 1,000 lives annually.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer claimed women over 80 were 40 times less likely to have surgery and less likely to receive radiotherapy or chemotherapy

U.S.-Developed Vaccine 'Could Eliminate' Breast Cancer

A doctor from the Cleveland Clinic claims he developed a vaccine that could prevent breast cancer and save the lives of millions of women, Fox8.com reports.

The treatment was tested on mice and showed "overwhelmingly favorable results.”

Dr. Vincent Tuohy, who led the research at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said there was evidence in the initial tests that the vaccine could prevent cancers from forming and stop the growth of existing tumors.