The test, called ductal lavage, goes right to the source of the problem, the milk ducts.
All breast cancers originate in the layer of cells that line the milk ducts.
The new procedure uses a catheter to collect cells from the ducts in order to catch the cancer even before it may have had time to develop into a tumor detectable by manual exam or mammogram. A microcatheter is inserted through the nipple and saline flushed through to wash out any cells. The cells are then examined for cancer. The study, by researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, involved 426 high-risk women. Of the 470 breasts tested, 15.1 percent showed signs of premalignancy and 5.1 percent revealed they were suspicious for malignancy or definitely malignant.