Breast cancer saliva test
Friday, 11 Jan 2008 09:44
People may one day be tested for breast cancer at the dentist
People could one day find out if they have breast cancer thanks to a trip to the dentist, according to US scientists.
They believe testing people's saliva for certain protein markers could help to determine whether they have benign or malignant tumours.
The onset of breast cancer produces a change in the normal type and amount of proteins in glandular secretions from the salivary glands.
In the study, researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Centre analysed saliva samples from 30 patients.
They found 49 proteins that differentiated healthy patients from those with benign breast tumours and those with malignant breast tumours.
"Saliva is a complex mixture of proteins. We go through a process that compares different samples by chemically labelling them in such a way that we can not only identify the protein, but determine how much of it is in each sample," Dr William Dubinsky explained.
"This allows us to compare the levels of 150 to 200 different proteins in cancerous versus non-cancerous specimens to identify possible markers for disease."
Current methods for breast cancer detection include screening, biopsies and ultrasounds and the scientists hope saliva testing will one day supplement these.
"Why not the dentist?" said Dr Charles Streckfus. "Most folks, especially women and children, visit the dental office way more often than they ever see the physician. Saliva is a non-invasive, quicker way for detection."
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