New saliva test can check you for cancer

A new test for cancer which is cheap, quick and highly accurate using less than one drop of saliva from the patient's tongue is been hailed as ‘revolutionary’ by doctors.

The £15 (BD8) 'liquid biopsy' test, which takes less than 10 minutes to get a result, looks for fragments of genetic material in a tiny drop of saliva.

Early results from lung cancer patients reportedly suggest it has 'near-perfect' accuracy, according to the scientist whose team developed the system.

Professor David Wong of the University of California at Los Angeles, said: 'If there is circulating signature of a tumour in a person blood or saliva, this test will find it.

'We need less than one drop of saliva and we can turn the test around in 10 minutes. It can be done in a doctor's office while you wait.  

'Early detection is crucial. Any time you gain in finding out that someone has a life-threatening cancer, the sooner the better.

'With this capability, it can be implemented by the patient themselves in a home check, or dentist or pharmacy.'

He says the test is to be tried with lung cancer patients in China later this year.

Eventually it could be used to diagnose a range of different cancers, said Wong, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington DC.

The team came up with the test after discovering saliva contained fragments of the genetic messenger molecule RNA linked to cancer.

'Down the road it might be possible to test for multiple cancers at the same time,' said Wong.

'The advantages of our technology is that it is non-invasive. If you have a credible early screening risk assessment technology that people can use on their own or at dentists' office or pharmacists - that's the key, early detection.'

Early detection is vital for patients in overcoming the disease and until now, doctors have only been able to discover the presence of cancer via blood tests or an intrusive biopsy.