Saliva Proteins May Help Spot Oral Cancer (HealthDay)

FRIDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- A simple test of saliva proteins mayone day help doctors detect oral cancer, according to a new study in theOct. 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

For their study, part of the U.S. National Institute of Dental andCraniofacial Research's Human Saliva Proteome Project, researcherscollected saliva samples from 64 people with oral squamous cell carcinoma(a form of oral cancer) and 64 healthy people.

Looking at five protein biomarkers in the saliva samples, theresearchers determined that the biomarkers confirmed the presence of oralcancer 93 percent of the time.

"This test is currently not available, but we are developingpoint-of-care microfluidic devices to detect these markers that we can usein clinical trials," Shen Hu, assistant professor of oral biology andproteomics at the University of California, Los Angeles, School ofDentistry, said in an American Association for Cancer Research newsrelease.

This research may lead to a simple and noninvasive tool clinicians canuse to diagnose oral cancer.

"I believe a test measuring these biomarkers will come to a point ofregular use in the future," said Hu. "We have demonstrated a new approachfor cancer biomarker discovery using saliva proteomics."

More information

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