Saliva-Based Oral Cancer Detection Ready

Clinical tests of saliva-based oral cancer detection, developed at the University of California in Los Angeles, may soon begin.

Scientists at Dr. David Wong’s laboratory at UCLA’s School of Dentistry have found that seven RNAs or molecules that carry information in cells found in saliva are very useful for oral cancer detection.

The saliva oral cancer RNA signature has been tested in more than 300 saliva samples from oral cancer patients and healthy people, the study says.

It says the signature is always present in higher levels in the saliva of oral cancer patients than in saliva from healthy people, with an overall accuracy rate of about 85 percent.

Oral cancer is the sixth-most common cancer in men and the 14th-most common cancer in women. In the United States, oral cancer is expected to kill more than 8,000 this year. Early detection, such as through saliva, can help save more than 80 percent of the patients.