A mammogram may soon no longer be necessary to diagnose breast cancer at an early stage. A six-minute breath test could also diagnose breast cancer.
Other substances in the breath
Women with breast cancer exhale different substances. The test can rule out breast cancer with almost 100 percent certainty. Healthy women had a normal breath test in almost all cases.
Additional research needed.
If the breath test was positive, breast cancer was also detected in almost 80 percent of the cases. So, with a positive breath test, additional tests should always be done to confirm or rule out breast cancer, the researchers add. The test was developed in the US and was studied on 244 women.
Women between the ages of 50 and 75 are now called for a mammogram every two years. Would you consider the breath test a good alternative?
Source:Nu.nl | Image:Shutterstock
