Australasian Science
April 15, 2008
Evidence of breast cancer can be detected in hair samples, with Australian company Fermiscan currently comparing the success rate of detection using X-ray diffraction of hairs with traditional methods.
The discovery that breast cancer leaves a trace in hair goes back to a 1999 Nature paper by Prof Veronica James of the Australian National University, which demonstrated that the molecular structure of hair from women with breast cancer was different from those without. Two more recent papers in the International Journal of Cancer have confirmed these findings.
Detection of the molecular changes requires powerful X-ray light produced by synchrotrons. Fermiscan has a memorandum of understanding with the Australian Synchrotron but is still using a synchrotron in Chicago until the unfinished local version can meet its needs.
The hair detection method is not perfect, but the studies found that over 80% of cancers were detected. Fermiscan claims this "compares favourably" with current methods.
Studies of mammograms across six countries produced an average detection rate of 75%. Detection has been demonstrated down to 9 mm, the smallest tumours that mammography can locate. It is not yet known if hair samples can be used to find even earlier cancers. Fermiscan's technique may also have fewer false positives than mammograms.
Dr Peter French, Fermiscans Science and Innovation Manager, foresees hair analysis used in conjunction with mammograms rather than replacing them. "Mammography is not a great mass screening technique," he says. "It's intense - there is some damage to breast tissue." However, French believes that mammograms would be very useful for locating cases where hair samples have shown evidence of cancer.
Fermiscan believes its technology also has applications in establishing whether treatment has been successful, since new hair is normal if cancers have been fully removed.
French says that hair samples have been studied with X-ray diffraction for some time, but synchrotrons have provided the higher resolution required for disease detection.
James made her discovery after comparing samples of baboon hair with that of humans. "James noticed a difference in the structure of baboons with diabetes from those without, and wondered if other diseases showed up as well," French says.
Breast cancer was a logical extension, according to French, because it is an epithelial carcinoma. Fermiscan is researching applicability to other diseases, with other epithelial cancers such as prostate and colon cancer being the priorities.
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