Breast Cancer breakthrough

Exeter PHD student hopes to revolutionise breast cancer testing

breast cancer science testing

A new breast cancer detection technique is to be tested on human breast tissue for the first time.

A grant was awarded to the University of Exeter and STFC by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on the 7th March, making this research possible.

The technique which allows opaque objects such as tissue to be analysed beneath the surface, has already been used in security scanners to detect liquid explosives.

PhD student Marleen Kerssens proved that the concept could be used to tell if shadows picked up on a mammogram are benign or malignant by testing the technique on pork. This grant will allow the technique to be tested on human tissue, and refine the sensitivity and penetration depth of the technique.

If the research is successful, this could ultimately lead to an instant diagnosis for patient at the time the mammogram is taken, removing the nervous wait and pain experienced during a biopsy.