Doctors may soon be able to help women with early-stage breast cancer avoid unnecessary and aggressive treatments, thanks to a new study from the University of Michigan and the University of Kansas.
The research shows that testing cancer cells in a patient’s blood could offer important clues about whether the disease is likely to become more serious.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, focused on a type of early breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. DCIS means that the cancer is still in the milk ducts and hasn’t yet spread to surrounding tissue.
Although this form of cancer has a good outlook, it can become invasive in some cases. In fact, between 10% and 53% of untreated DCIS cases can turn into invasive cancer over time.
Because it’s hard to know which DCIS patients are at higher risk, most women with DCIS are currently advised to undergo treatment such as surgery (lumpectomy or mastectomy). Some also receive radiation or hormone therapy. But this one-size-fits-all approach may mean that some women get more treatment than they need, while others don’t get enough.
Lead researchers Dr. Sunitha Nagrath and Dr. Fariba Behbod wanted to find a way to better personalize treatment decisions. Their goal was to find specific markers in the blood—called biomarkers—that could show whether a patient’s cancer was likely to spread.
If doctors could see which patients are at high risk, they could recommend more aggressive treatment to those patients, while allowing others to avoid unnecessary procedures.
The research team used a special device called a “labyrinth chip” that separates cancer cells from a small sample of blood. Blood is pushed through tiny maze-like channels in the chip, separating out larger cells like cancer cells and white blood cells. This technique allows scientists to collect cancer cells from the blood for closer study.
In the study, the team collected blood samples from 34 women with DCIS at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Using the labyrinth chip, they captured cancer cells from the blood and compared them with cancer cells taken directly from breast tissue samples.
They found that some of the cancer cells in the blood shared gene patterns linked to dangerous behavior—like growing quickly, resisting chemotherapy, and hiding from the immune system. These signs could suggest that the cancer might spread or return later.
Interestingly, the six Black patients in the study had more cancer cells in their blood and showed more signs of immune system suppression compared to white patients. This matches what other research has shown: Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer, often due to environmental or social factors rather than biology.
The researchers are now working to learn even more. They are putting the collected cancer cells into mice to see which ones can travel to other parts of the body and form new tumors. They’re also continuing to monitor the patients in the study over time.
This research offers hope for more accurate and personalized breast cancer treatment. If doctors can one day use a simple blood test to understand a patient’s true risk, many women might avoid aggressive treatments and the side effects that come with them—while still getting the right care for their needs.
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The study is published in Science Advances.
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