Breast cancer is fast becoming a public health crisis in Mexico. Current rates show that approximately 15 women a day die from the disease there and efforts to improve early detection are at the forefront of research. One such advance is being studied at Mexico's Monterrey Institute of Technology. It's a device that could detect the presence of breast cancer in its very early stages. It's a small chip that's incorporated into a very thin film. Saliva samples are placed on the film and a protein commonly associated with breast cancer can be detected.
Until recently there have been very few studies of breast cancer in Mexico and a national plan to fight the disease and educate women had not been developed. The non profit group CIMAB is leading the fight for more research, more outreach to poor women who get breast cancer and more attention from the government to fund studies and further treatments.
