• 1/12/2007
  • Houston, TX
  • Christi Myers
  • abc13.com

Imagine getting a breast cancer test at your dentist’s office. And the test can find cancer before it can be seen on a mammogram. That test is now here, invented by a Houston dental researcher.

All patients have to do is chew some gum. And when they chew long enough, the study patients spit into a cup. And from that sample, Dr. Charles Streckfus, a professor at UT dental branch, can tell if they may have early breast cancer.

“You would be able to detect it a lot earlier and a lot smaller and you would be able to save untold numbers of lives,” said Dr. Charles Streckfus, DDS.

The research dentist at UT dental branch spent 10 years looking at a protein called her2 in saliva and found that it can predict breast cancer at stage zero.

“We were able to detect those cancers smaller than the size of a pea,” said Dr. Streckfus.

Imagine going to the dentist and catching breast cancer in a saliva test before it’s detectable on a mammogram, when it’s virtually curable.

“It’s so exciting what we’re doing with saliva,” said Dr. Catherine Flaitz, DDS, Dean at UT dental branch. “It’s not only breast cancer, but a number of other diseases and what we’re seeing is we can pick up these proteins and these cancer signals very, very early.”

The researcher has 20,000 spit samples stored in freezers at temperatures of 77 degrees below zero. He is doing similar saliva studies on other cancers — prostate, head and neck, ovarian, cervical, colon, and pancreatic. The saliva test appears to quickly show if there’s a recurrence. That’s reassuring for survivors like Patty Fisk.

“That’s exciting because so many women, you may not want to get that mammogram again. You may have a fear issue,” she said. “But going to your dentist and letting them find it even sooner, that’s a great possibility.”

The saliva breast cancer test is closest to an FDA trial. Dr Streckfus’ hope is that within a decade, it will be in dentists’ offices. And a woman can know with certainty if she does or does not have breast cancer.

Dr. Streckfus is working with M.D. Anderson and UT Houston Medical School on bringing the cancer and saliva test to a dentist near you. He’s hoping for funding to make that happen as quickly as possible.