"Swish-and-Spit" Cancer Test as Easy to Use as Mouth Rinse

According to the National Cancer Institute the annual treatment expenditures for head and neck cancers reach about $3.2 billion. Of the approximately fifty-five thousand Americans, who will develop some type of head and neck cancer this year, about thirteen thousand will die from the disease. Most of these deaths could be prevented, if the cancer would be detected early. However, if early warning signs are ignored the chances to beat the cancer are significantly reduced. Scientists have been working on methods to detect this type of cancer even earlier. Now researchers at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a simple and non-invasive testing method for the detection of this type of cancer, which appears to be quite accurate.

There are several types of head and neck cancer. The cancer often begins in the soft and moist skin that lines the inside of the mouth, nose, and throat. It can also be found on the tongue and lips, in the sinuses, salivary glands, voice box, and neck lymph nodes. First warning signs are usually a lump in the neck, voice changes, a growth in the mouth, bringing up blood, problems swallowing, skin changes, and/or persistent earache. Traditional treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Some people are at a higher risk of developing head and neck cancer. Tobacco use is one of the leading causes. About eighty-five percent of the cases are linked to cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, or snuff. Another major risk factor is alcohol use. Additionally, prolonged sun exposure can be a risk factor for this type of cancer.

Especially in people with high risk factors, the early detection of head and neck cancer is crucial. The new "Swish-and-Spit" test could one day be a reliable tool for this purpose. The test is essentially a special salt solution mouth rinse, which captures common genetic signatures of head and neck cancer in the user's mouth. This cost-efficient test is easy to perform and painless. Since, some of the head and neck tumors do not shed genetic material into the blood stream, a saliva rinse test that captures genetic material from a wide area of the mouth could be the better option for the detection of this kind of cancer

The "Swish-and-Spit" was tested in a study conducted at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. 211 head and neck cancer patients were asked to brush the inside of their mouths. Then they had to rinse and gargle with the special mouth rinse. Additionally, 527 people, who did not have mouth, larynx, or pharynx cancer, performed the same procedures.

The rinsed saliva gathered by the scientists was filtered to separate out cells, which have one or more of twenty-one bits of chemically altered genes common only to head and neck cancers. Furthermore, the scientists gathered tumor and blood samples.

Unfortunately, every cancer development has its own unique genetic signature. Therefore, several gene signatures had to be combined in order to be able to identify a larger percentage of cancer patients. The scientists were able to identify seven of the twenty-one hypermethylated genes as being the best predictors for head and neck cancer in the saliva samples.

The scientists tested combinations of these seven genes on the saliva rinses in sets of three to five. They were able to find a combination panel that correctly identified 42.9 percent of the patients with the disease. This particular combination panel was also able to accurately rule out head and neck cancer in 81.9 percent of the healthy comparison group.

Although, this study has proven the saliva rinse test to be quite reliable, further research and tests have to be conducted in order to refine and perfect the product by including additional genetic material.