Mumbai hospital's new tech helps 'predict' breast cancer

MUMBAI: A city hospital just might change the way breast cancer is treated and managed. It detects cancerous cells in their primitive avatar and even predicts future tumours. Called ductoscopy, the endoscopic technique, allows doctors access to cells that line the milk duct of the breast, where about 85-90% of cancers originate.

In a five-year long study conducted by the P D Hinduja Hospital at Mahim, doctors were able to detect and map cancerous changes in patients with nipple discharge. All the women had been given a clean chit by standard protocols like clinical examination and mammography. The doctors even managed to pick up preliminary changes in cells that could possibly turn cancerous after a decade or more. Surgical oncologist Dr Vinay Deshmane, who made the findings, said that ductoscopy can pick up early genetic changes occurring in the cells before any symptoms of breast cancer actually develop.