Cancer Research UK: More work needed

A lot more work is needed before saliva tests can be used to detect cancer in the population, Cancer Research UK has warned.

The charity's comments follow a new study from US researchers which claims a saliva test could be performed during a dentist's appointment.

In tests they found 49 proteins that differentiated healthy patients from those with benign breast tumours and those with malignant breast tumours.

Henry Scowcroft, Cancer Research UK's senior news and resources officer, said teams such as the US group are working around the world to find out if early signs of the disease can be found in bodily fluids, as diagnosing cancer early saves lives.

"This paper is one of many early 'proof-of-principle' results that are published every year," he said.

"But the research only looked at samples from a very small number of people.

"The technique might not prove reliable when more people are studied and there's no data on how effective it might be in practice. So there's a lot more work to be done to find out if this method could ever be used routinely."