Bulgarian scientists with a project on fighting breast cancer

In the global month of fighting breast cancer, statistics are again merciless - this disease is the leading cause of death in women in Bulgaria. New cases diagnosed in Bulgaria each year are nearly 4,000 and deaths are more than 1,500. Worldwide, the disease takes about 570,000 lives. Therefore, early diagnosis is of key importance. Scientists from the Technical University of Varna are at the heart of a project for innovative imaging of the tissues, which can be very effective, especially for young women. The project is funded by the European Commission and is worth € 1 million euro.

Every 19 seconds, a woman somewhere in the world understands that she has breast cancer. The statistics of deaths is even more cruel - every minute a woman loses the battle with this disease. For relatives and affected, this is usually unexpected. It goes without saying that the world collapses for them. That is why the efforts of the European institutions are increasingly focused on early diagnosis.

Prof. Kristina Bliznakova, Project Manager Maxima: We really believe that we may soon be out of the research laboratories and this new breast scanning technique will have a clinical application.

Difficulties with diagnosing mammogrammes of younger women due to the inability to differentiate the gland from the tumour tissue are expected to no longer exist with the new technical equipment.

Bulgarian scientists at the Technical University of Varna are at the heart of imaging diagnostics, in which the tumour can no longer be hidden from the glandular tissue in the breasts of younger women. In conventional mammography, X-rays are similarly absorbed by both tissues. So the early development of the disease can be omitted because of similar images. Scientists, however, predict that at least 10 years will pass by the time such much more accurate imaging equipment enter hospitals.

What can be done earlier within the same project is a mobile application that will be produced by the end of the year. Even ladies that are very busy with work will be able to see through their phone whether there is a risk of breast cancer. The application includes questions about the age, whether you have a hereditary burden, do you smoke, and when you last had a mammogramme done.

A little more than a week later, it is the world day for fighting breast cancer - a red light to remind women to go to medical examinations, because the early detection of malignant cells has proven to reverse the course of the disease.