Salivary Diagnostics For Oral Cancer Risk

By Duke H. Kim, DDS, MAGD

Oral cancer is getting more media attention due to human papapillomavirus (HPV) and its alarming late detection rate. The survival rate is 60 percent and sadly this is a statistic that has not improved in the past 50 years. Of all oral cancers, 90 percent are squamous cell carcinomas, with an average of at least 40,000 new diagnoses per year.

Recently, celebrities are stepping out of the shadows and bravely sharing their personal stories, bringing awareness to early detection. Fortunately, there is a new salivary diagnostics exam which your general dentist can perform chair side, with no needles involved, and it's a quick and painless process.

The technology available to cancer patients has drastically improved in the past 50 years, so why has the survival rate not improved with the times? Oral cancer has been elevated to the sixth most common cancer worldwide.

Currently, the use of saliva as a diagnostic fluid is the cutting edge of early detection of oral cancer. This has been under development for the past decade and is recognized as a convenient body fluid for biomarker evaluation. If oral cancer is caught early, the survival rate is higher than 90 percent. What a world of difference from the late detection survival rate of 60 percent.

Salivary biomarkers have been shown to aid in the early detection of oral squamous cell cancer (OSCC) which is the leading oral cancer perpetrator. The National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network (NCI-EDRN) has independently verified these markers found in saliva.

A vast majority of the patient population does not report having an oral cancer screening at routine dental cleanings and exams. These exams are recommended by the American Dental Association (ADA) and the NCI-EDRN. The potential successes of early detection via chair side saliva swab by your dentist are phenomenal and measured only exponentially.

The key to cancer prevention and treatment is early detection and now dentists are able to provide this service.