Oral cancer kills approximately 1 person every day. Majority of cases are diagnosed in late stages, which accounts for the higher death rates. Experts believe that if this condition can be detected early, there is 80 to 90% rate of survival. At present, ealy detection of oral cancer depends mainly on a thorough oral cancer examination for possible signs and symptoms of the disease, usually done by a dentist or other health care provider.

Scientists have been working on technologies and biomarkers for the early detection of oral cancer while saliva has shown to acquire informative biomarkers for oral cancer detection.

Scientists in Dr. David Wong's laboratory at the School of Dentistry at UCLA have discovered that seven RNAs, molecules that carry information in cells, when found in saliva are very useful for oral cancer detection. The saliva oral cancer RNA signature has been tested in over 300 saliva samples from oral cancer patients and healthy people, and 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%.

At the recent 35th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research, Wong's research team reported for the first time that they have developed a standardized "Saliva RNA Test for Oral Cancer" ready for clinical usage.

Read the complete AADR press release (a pdf file).