New Brunswick health network participating in study on early detection of breast cancer

A Moncton-based company is developing technology to study the potential of breath analysis as a non-invasive tool for the early detection of breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue. (CTV Atlantic / Derek Haggett)

A clinical study about to get underway in Moncton will investigate the potential of breath analysis as a non-invasive tool for the early detection of breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue.

Vitalité Health Network is partnering with Breathe BioMedical Inc. on the study, which is being led by Dr. Jocelyne Hébert.

The health network says it is the first Canadian site to participate and women from across New Brunswick will be part of the program.

Harder to detect

Cancer can be harder to detect in women with dense breast tissue, an issue half of all women eligible for breast cancer screening face.

“The current standard of care among mammogramy screening is less than 50 per cent accurate for these women,” Bill Dawes, president and CEO of Breathe BioMedical, told CTV News.

“Mammograms for these 50 per cent of women with dense breast tissue, mammogram sees the underlying tissue as grey. It also sees the cancerous lesions as grey and so what clinicians say is trying to find cancer on a woman with dense breast tissue is like trying to pick a particular cloud out of a cloud filled sky.”

Researchers are investigating whether breath analysis could help address this challenge by serving as a complementary tool to traditional screening methods.

“By simply blowing into our device we capture your breath. We analyze it on our very sophisticated spectral device, which creates a data set from the breath and then we use machine learning to synthesize that data and identify patterns in the breath that are associated with the disease. In this case, breast cancer,” said Dawes.

In a recent preliminary study conducted in Saint John, N.B., Breathe BioMedical says its technology distinguished women with early-stage breast cancer from those without the disease with an accuracy rate of 88.2 per cent. The results were consistent regardless of breast density.

Early detection

The health network says women with dense breast tissue are four to five times more likely to develop breast cancer, adding survival rates exceed 98 per cent when the disease is detected early. That number decreases to 30 per cent when it is discovered at an advanced stage.

“This partnership illustrates our commitment to research and innovation to better serve our population,” said Hébert in a news release. “This technology offers a new perspective in breast cancer detection by strengthening our ability to detect the disease earlier and more accurately. We are proud to contribute to this scientific advancement here in New Brunswick.”

American institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and Duke University are also participating in the study. Vitalité Health Network says its participation helps to diversify the study population, which in turn strengthens “the robustness of the machine‑learning algorithms.”

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