Breast cancer is a common disease, with approximately 3000 women diagnosed each year in Ireland. Patient survival is linked to the Stage at which the disease is diagnosed. There is an urgent need for a non-invasive biomarker that can be easily detected in the bloodstream to support early detection of the disease in patients to improve patient survival. MicroRNAs(miRNA) have shown immense potential in this setting. These short, non-coding sequences of RNA are encapsulated into Extracellular Vesicles(EVs) and released by all cells. EV-miRNAs are detectable in blood of patients with a variety of cancers, including breast cancer. The content of EVs depends on the cell from which they are released. Therefore it is thought that cancer cells release EVs with specific contents into the bloodstream. This study will focus on the specific signature of EVs in the serum of animals with breast cancer compared to healthy controls. These samples were collected previously so are available for use . This will support identification of targets of interest which can then be investigated in serum EVs of breast cancer patients compared to healthy control individuals, to determine if they could be used as blood-based markers of disease. The Discipline of Surgery Biobank contains serum samples from breast cancer patients attained with ethical approval and patient consent.There is exciting potential to isolate EVs from the blood stream of breast cancer patients to diagnose the cancer at an early stage, thus allowing the patient to receive treatment earlier and increasing chances for survival.
