Mammastatin Test to Assess Breast Cancer Risk

A simple blood test that measures the level of mammastatin protein in serum shows promise as a method to assess a woman's risk of breast cancer.

A short-term Level I study of the mammastatin serum assay (MSA) involved several
hundred women, one group composed of known breast cancer patients and a second group from the general population. The results confirm a correlation between the levels of mammastatin protein and the presence or absence of breast cancer. Among women younger than 40 in this trial, those with a positive family history of breast cancer had lower levels of mammastatin compared to women without a family history of breast cancer. Thus, the MSA test could be an invaluable test for screening younger women for increased risk of developing breast cancer.

Mammastatin is a growth inhibiting protein shown to be present in normal healthy breast cells, but it has been found missing or inactive in the majority of breast cancer patients studied to date. This correlation led to the hypothesis that the development of a simple serum diagnostic assay to identify the level of mammastatin protein could indicate whether breast cells were functioning normally or were at risk for uncontrolled cancerous growth. The MSA test is being developed by Biomedical Diagnostics, LLC (BMD, New York, NY, USA).

"A mammastatin serum assay test could provide physicians and their patients with a more effective tool for assessing the risk of developing breast cancer,” said Jim Arthur, president of BMD. "This information from the MSA test could be used along with current detection methods to provide for earlier detection of breast cancer.”