Short YouTube video by Jenn Simmons, MD promoting the ARIA (Auria) tear-based test as part of her breast cancer screening regimen. Dr. Simmons describes the simple sample collection (paper strip in the eye for five minutes, sent to the company), explains that the test detects inflammatory precursor proteins (S100A8 and S100A9) rather than cancer itself, gives rough prevalence/interpretation guidance (clinically significant/positive in ~40% of people without breast cancer), and invites viewers to a webinar for more details on screening and follow-up.
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Why should you do the ARIA test? Well, I'll tell you, it is an important part of what my screening regimen is. My screening regimen is self breast examination. And everyone should be doing self breast examination because no one is ever going to know you better than yourself. The ARIA test and some safe imaging like ultrasound or qt. Now, why should you do the ARIA test? Because what the ARIA test is screening for, it's not exactly screening for breast cancer. It's screening for the inflammatory precursors of breast cancer. It's screening for two proteins, the S100A8 and S100A9 proteins that are, as it turns out, abundant in your tears. So the test just involves taking this little tiny strip of paper, folding down the corner, you just put it right inside the lid, close your eye for five minutes, it goes in this tube, in with a little bit of fluid that they provide for you, and then right back in the box, send it back to the company, and a week and a half later you get a result that tells you if it's normal, at which point you can exhale because the likelihood that you have breast cancer with a negative ARIA test is very, very low. And if you have a normal breast examination and a negative ARIA test, I don't even think you need imaging. I think ARIA is going to determine who does and who doesn't need imaging. Now, if you have a clinically significant test with which will happen in about 40% of the population that doesn't have breast cancer, but if you have a clinically significant, a positive ARIA test, you have the inflammation that is the precursor to breast cancer. And what do you have? You have opportunity. If you want to learn more, please join me at my webinar where we're going to talk all about screening and what to do if you have a clinically significant ARIA test. See you guys real soon.
