10 women with postpartum breast cancer detected among the participants in the Cordoban project investigating this tumor

The City Council of Córdoba and the Maimónides Institute for Biomedical Research of Córdoba (IMIBIC) presented on Wednesday a balance sheet on the development of the HERA Project, a pioneering research that places the city as an international benchmark in the study of breast cancer linked to pregnancy,breastfeeding and postpartum. In the course of this study, which has added the voluntary participation of more than 25,000 mothers throughout Spain, ten participants diagnosed with this disease have already been detected, of which seven belong to the first phase of the project and three, in the second phase.

In the first, samples were collected at different events, whilean advance of the initiative allowed, already in the second phase, to develop predictive and non-invasive tests so that women could make their sample at home and send it through the Post Office. It was in this last phase that the City Council of Córdoba allocated 230,000 euros.

The oncologist and principal investigator of the project, Juan de la Haba, explained that, once openedin the second phase, 25,000 women were enrolled, of which 15,000 participated, the number of tests available. This has allowed the study to reach the entire peninsula, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and small rural municipalities of just 300 or 400 inhabitants. With all the donations, the Biobank of the Public Health System of Andalusia already has "one of theres collections of breast milk taken in a well-standardized way, "said the doctor, who shares the project with five other people.

These samples are also open to other accredited scientific groups and De La Haba has confirmed that there are already requests to investigate the presence of microplastics in breast milk (with samples from hundreds of women fromprovinces such as Almería), volatile compounds or viruses. On the profile of the participants, among whom they have also donated more than 100 samples of tumor tissue to complement the milk tests, De La Haba said that the average age is 34 years.

Analysis of milk in the laboratory

And when the milk donations come to the lab, how are they analyzed? As detailed by De la Haba, the cornerstone of the experimental design is to analyze and compare the milk expressed from the healthy breast with that of the sick breast in the same participant. De la Haba stressed that this technique makes it possible to "eliminate the biological variability" that exists when comparing different people, ensuring that any differences detecteda in the expression of proteins is directly linked to the onset of the disease.

Once the proteins that are expressed differently between the two breasts have been identified, the team analyzes what function and what specific biological action they play in tumor development to close the circle of diagnosis. To ensure the robustness of the findings and rule outthat are due to chance or errors in technique, the results observed in the first patients will undergo a confirmation process in a group of 30 women for each phase, as confirmed by the doctor. It is expected that in 2029 or 2030 the studies of the samples of both phases will be completed.

This process is complemented by the analysis of healthy tissue biopsies andas he explained, in samples it has been found that abrupt weaning generates processes of inflammation and breast fibrosis, causing the arrival of immune cells that create an environment of immunosuppression or deprotection. This window of risk is concentrated in the first five years after breastfeeding and tends to normalize by ten years. Another issue to resolvewill be to know what is considered abrupt weaning and which is the best.

Finally, the mayor of Córdoba, José María Bellido, congratulated the scientific team and appreciated the delivery of the volunteers. In addition, he explained that, since the presidency of the Andalusian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FAMP) and in contact with the Spanish Federation (FEMP), the ayu have been askedntaments act as an institutional bridge for the follow-up of the participants.

Source: Cordópolis