Saliva Could Help Detect Cancer

While there are many factors that can contribute to cancer—alcohol, radiation, tobacco, sunlight, infectious agents, immunosuppression, hormones, diet, and other cancer-causing substances—age is arguably one of the biggest risk factors for cancer but the least understood. An individual’s cancer risk increases greatly beyond the age of 50, and maybe 50 percent of cancers occur around 66 years of age or more.

The median diagnosis age varies between cancers, but they work the same way—mutations and similar changes within the genome cause cells to grow cancerous. Genes regulating cell growth disrupt normal cells, and they start growing uncontrollably until they form tumors. These mutations can occur for many years before the cells become malignant.

A New Method for Cancer Diagnosis

As to why aging bodies are more prone to cancer, scientists have many different theories, such as seniors simply being subject to drawn-out exposure to various carcinogens or the simple accumulation of mutations the more years we live. While research regarding these theories develops further, research is also moving forward for cancer detection, since diagnosing cancer early generally leads to more favorable outcomes.

Out of the University of California in Los Angeles, scientists are currently attempting to foster biological markers within saliva, which could one day produce a test that can detect systemic disease like stomach cancer. This project, made possible by a National Health Institutes grant, will run for five years and will be led by Dr. David Wong and a collaborating team. Together, they hope to create a panel for definitively detecting stomach cancer cells by ensnaring extracellular RNA (exRNA).

Previously, RNA, which makes protein by translating genetic code from our DNA, was thought to be within cells. It was determined later that RNA is discharged outside cells, which makes it extracellular. What this means is exRNA molecules in the saliva emit signals, which scientists can examine and use for detecting diseases.

What This Study Could Mean

Dr. Wong’s study may produce hard proof that saliva could be used for detecting life-threatening diseases like diabetes as well as pancreatic, breast, ovarian, and stomach cancers. Such a discovery could add years to the lives of patients who may not have discovered their condition until much damage had been done, requiring more extensive and even invasive procedures. There’s even a chance of reducing medical costs, something that becomes increasingly difficult for many as we move up in age.

Wong and this team discovered exRNA molecules in the saliva back in 2004, and they saw how it could work for detecting oral cancers. This research team went on to successfully develop exRNA biomarkers for oral diseases, including Sjögren's syndrome and salivary gland tumors. This provides much hope for the next five years of their current project.

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