Early diagnosis of Breast cancer saves thousands of lives!
Fortunately researchers have developed an oral pill with a fluorescent imaging agent thatbinds to cancer cells, lighting up breast tumors when exposed to infrared light.
This is a great advantage for women with thick breast tissue,as dense tissues make cancer tumors hard to detect through Mammograms - an X-ray of the breasts that detects tumors that cannot be felt-.
Mammograms do not always give accurate diagnosis as the screening method does not differentiate between benign and cancerous tumors.
This sometimes leads to false-positives and unnecessary and harsh treatments.
The pill was tested on mice with breast cancer tumors and research found that around 50-60% of the imaging agent was absorbed into the bloodstream.
Researchers hope to develop a pill that is suitable for humans.