Biomarkers for Oral Cancer in Saliva

Filed in archive Diagnostics, Methodologies and Instrumentation , Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics on September 30, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Bradley Mason

Researchers have identified five protein biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma, a form of oral cancer,found in the saliva.

Researchers collected saliva samples from 64 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 64 healthy patients.

Five candidate biomarkers were successfully validated using immunoassays: M2BP, MRP14, CD59, profilin and catalase.

The presence of these biomarkers confirmed the presence of oral cancer 93 percent of the time.

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

Researchers are currently working on a device to detect these biomarkers, a potential clinical tool for noninvasive diagnosis of oral cancer in the future.