B.C. detection test being used to catch oral cancer in early stages
Source: www.cbc.ca Author: staff Doctor says oral cancer is among the deadlier diseases yet rarely talked about. The Canadian Cancer Society estimates 4,400 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year. The deadly disease can often go undiagnosed because it is tough to screen for dormant symptoms. But now, researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) are developing a new test that will be able to detect oral cancer at a much earlier stage. Dr. Catherine Poh, an oral pathologist who also teaches dentistry at UBC, spoke with the Early Edition's Rick Cluff about the latest developments. What can you tell us about this new brushing test you're working on? We are a proposing a non-invasive approach to analyse genetic material collected from patients mouths using a simple brush. This can be done by a dentist or at a family doctor's office. This test would detect genetic change that happens in human genomes from the cells collected from the mouth. We have shown that it has prediction value for the risk for oral cancer development. How does your test compare to how oral cancer is detected right now? Right now the majority of oral cancer has been screened by dentists because many of the oral cancer [diagnosis] come with no pain or no symptoms. Through the dental regular checkups it can be detected early, otherwise patients come with a sore in their mouths that is essentially a delay in the diagnosis. What symptoms should people look out for? [...]