London: A new early warning blood test for breast cancer which is 1000 times more sensitive than any currently in use may cut deaths from the disease.

Breat cancer is the most common female cancer claiming more than 400,000 lives around the world each year.

Doctors diagnose it by physical examination, scanning and biopsy. The new blood test works by detecting small changes in the protein in the blood which change when the body’s immune system begins to fight cancer.

The test was developed by a joint team from University College London, the University of Pennsylvania and Pittsburg and the US company BioTraces Inc. The findings are published in the current issue of the Journal of Proteome Research.