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New Test Detects Oral Cancer
Early diagnosis of oral cancer and Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease involving dry eyes, dry mouth and rheumatoid arthritis, may soon be possible with saliva-based tests, according to two presentations on Friday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Dental Research.
A research group at the University of California in Los Angeles examined 350 saliva samples from patients with oral cancer and healthy comparison subjects. Seven "messenger RNAs," which are used to build proteins, were increased in the patients with oral cancer. Based on these findings, the researchers have developed a test that is fairly accurate in detecting oral cancer.
The group's test would be particularly useful for screening individuals with risk factors for oral cancer, including patients older than 45 years, smokers and alcohol drinkers.
Research by Dr Jane Atkinson and colleagues at the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research in Bethesda, Maryland, has shown that saliva from patients with Sjogren's syndrome can be differentiated from that of healthy control subjects by varying concentrations of proteins.
"This should allow us to diagnose patients more easily, to observe what actually happens to the salivary gland of patients with Sjogren's syndrome, to develop therapies to halt disease progression, to follow their progress during clinical trials, and to develop more effective saliva substitutes," Atkinson said.
She pointed out that a diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome currently requires a biopsy of the salivary gland, which sometimes has to be repeated. Researchers have long hoped to develop a noninvasive test that can be used instead of biopsy.
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