New Swab Test Accurately Detects Oral Cancer
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- Published: Thursday, 13 April 2023 07:33
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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Thousands of lives may be saved by this simple and painless test that can be undertaken in the dental chair.
It’s well understood that the early diagnosis of cancer plays a crucial role in eventual treatment outcomes, so the development by Surrey scientists of a proof-of-concept test called PANDORA that’s over 92% accurate at identifying patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) gives cause for celebration.
The test was also shown to be more than 80% accurate at identifying patients with pre-cancer or oral epithelial dysplasia (OED).
Figures from the Oral Health Foundation reveal that mouth cancer cases in the UK are up by a third (36%) from a decade ago with 9864 diagnosed last year.
University of Surrey researchers took cell samples from 40 people with OSCC and OED, along with 79 people without cancer (including those with other benign lesions), for use as a test group.
Using a machine called a DEPtech 3DEP analyser, with a unique set-up protocol to measure and analyse the cells of the patients, samples could be collected at a dentist’s surgery and posted for analysis, thereby allowing it to be used in primary care to identify patients in need of specialist care.
Biopsy samples are taken from the patient, painlessly, using a soft brush. These are then sent to a laboratory and fed through the analyser.
Dr Fatima Labeed, co-author of the study and Senior Lecturer in Human Biology from the University of Surrey, said:
"Over three hundred thousand people are diagnosed with oral cancer worldwide – a disease with an alarming mortality rate of around 50%. This suggests that the scientific community doesn’t have the tools available to identify oral cancer early enough, and we hope that PANDORA paves the way for more effective clinical diagnostic tools for this terrible disease."
Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a common type of cancer that impacts the cells lining the mouth and throat and is linked to lifestyle factors such as smoking or poor oral hygiene, or alcohol use. Symptoms can include persistent mouth sores, difficulty swallowing, and changes in speech. OSCC is treatable if identified early, but has a poor survival rate if identified at a late stage.
Similar to oral squamous cell carcinoma, oral epithelial dysplasia is a precancerous condition where the cells lining the mouth show abnormal changes in shape, size, and arrangement because of smoking, alcohol use, or poor oral hygiene. The condition is precancerous because it can develop into oral cancer over time.
Although the researchers acknowledge that further clinical testing still needs to be done, the addition of this new diagnostic advance to the clinician’s armoury stands to potentially save thousands of lives and spare many more patients highly unpleasant and invasive procedures by earlier detection.
The study has been published in the Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine.
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