Method detects likelihood of cancer spread

LUND, Sweden, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Researchers in Sweden say they developed a technique that can identify which breast-cancer patients are likely to risk metastasis -- the spread of cancer.

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden say within the next two years the method will be tested in Swedish hospitals, and in the future the technique may also be used in other countries.

Carl Borrebaeck, professor of immunotechnology at Lund University and program director for Create Health, says the idea is to build a diagnostic clinic next to the operating theater, where the tumor can be analyzed while the patient is still on the operating table and the surgeon, oncologist and pathologist together can make a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Borrebaeck says with the technique for analyzing patterns of biomarkers -- protein molecules -- in the blood, it is possible to obtain information about what type of cancer the patient has and what the prognosis is. One-quarter of all women who suffer from breast cancer are at risk of metastasis, Borrebaeck says.

"We also map the tumor cells' genome. Using this map, we can find out how responses to different types of treatment may relate to specific genes," Borrebaeck says in a statement. "This knowledge could be of great help in selecting the right treatment."