Marker protein may help breast cancer screening

EGFR can show up 17 months before disease appears

WASHINGTON — High concentrations of a protein implicated in several cancers may be an early warning sign of undiagnosed breast cancer, a new study suggests. Blood samples taken months before breast cancer was diagnosed show the receptor was elevated more often in women with the disease than in women who didn’t develop breast cancer, scientists reported April 20 at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.