Forget about those unreliable, invasive and harmful tools currently used to diagnose breast cancer! U.S. researchers announced that they found a simple analysis of proteins in the saliva that can be performed in a dental clinic can determine whether the woman has the cancer.
The study published in the Jan 10, 2008 issue of the journal Cancer Investigation claimed that the test can not only diagnose breast cancer, but also help decide whether the subject needs surgery, a biopsy or a further testing.
Charles Streckfus, DDS, Professor of Diagnostic Sciences, The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston. Photo credit: Natalie Wong Camarata
According to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston who conducted the research, the onset of breast cancer produces a change in the normal type of amount of proteins secreted from the salivary glands. A cancer can change the pattern.
Charles Streckfus, D.D.S., a University of Texas Dental Branch, an expert in salivary function and molecular epidemiology and William Dubinsky, a biochemist at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Lenora Bigler at the UT Dental Branch tested saliva samples from 30 patients and found that 49 proteins distinguished healthy people with a benign tumor from those who had malignant breast cancer.
The diagnosis was made possible using a so called “lab-on-a-chip" technology developed by biochemists at the University of Texas at Austin, which intends to bring the diagnostic procedure into the dental office and other health facilities to detect the presence of breast cancer before a tumor forms.
William Dubinsky, PhD, A biochemist and Professor of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Photo credit: UT Medical School at Houston.
"Saliva is a complex mixture of proteins. We go through a process that compares different samples by chemically labeling them in such a way that we can not only identify the protein, but determine how much of it is in each sample," said Dubinsky.
"This allows us to compare the levels of 150-200 different proteins in cancerous versus non-cancerous specimens to identify possible markers for disease."
The concept is not new that the protein pattern in the saliva may be used to diagnose breast cancer. One study led by Carlson L. E. and colleagues from the University of Calgary and published in the Feb, 2007 issue of Journal of behavioral medicine revealed patients with breast cancer experience dysregulations in endocrine and sympathetic nervous systems and some proteins such as salivary cortisol is altered in the patients.
Breast cancer is diagnosed in about 200,000 American women and more than 50,000 die from the disease and complications of the conventional treatments. Worldwide, this disease will be found in an estimated 25 million women and kill 10 million in the next 25 years if no cure is found.
Current tools used to detect breast cancer include ultrasounds, regular blood test screenings, mammograms and biopsies some of which have received criticism from heath advocates because some procedures per se can increase risk of the cancer. The researchers said eventually all the diagnostic tools will be supplemented by salivary diagnostics.
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