Her2Her

Breast cancer has been a prominent topic of of women's health, and has contributed to over 2.3 million diagnoses and half a million deaths globally in 2022 alone, according to the WHO. Though breast cancer has been strongly associated with genetics through BRAC1/2 genes, there are a lot of other factors contributing to the disease. Biomarkers such as miRNAs and proteins have been strongly linked to breast cancer, with miRNAs playing key roles in early detection. Though breast cancer detection techniques have already been established, they are not as easily accessible, especially for women residing in low-income regions or in countries where access to healthcare is limited. Additionally, there is a lot of fear associated with breast cancer testing, resulting in low adherence to testing and late stage detection of the disease in some cases. This calls for the development of non-invasive and accessible early detection or screening methods for breast cancer. Biomarkers for breast cancer can play a crucial role in early detection, especially miRNAs which show stable presence in saliva. Our aim is to draw upon the efficacy and accessibility of at-home tests to develop a latency flow test, similar to a PCR covid testing, to biomarkers associated with breast cancer within the saliva. This is a novel, non-invasive technique that presents a strong competitive edge as we aim to develop the device with the ability to simultaneously detect different types of biomarkers at once.