Oral Rinse Can Detect Early Stage Head and Neck Cancer
A simple oral rinse which detects CD44 - a protein biomarker for HNSCC tumors - combined with the detection of cancer-related altered DNA can reliably detect the early development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and distinguishing it from other benign diseases.
Such were the findings of a research team at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
While CD44 appears on the surface of cells in healthy tissue, it is elevated at least seven- fold times in head and neck cancer.
According to Elizabeth Franzmann, M.D., assistant professor of otolaryngology at Miami:
“Our study has shown that an oral rinse test, simple enough to be administered at any community health center, is likely to detect cancer about 90 percent of the time.
If put into practice, an oral rinse screening test for head and neck squamous cell cancer could be more effective than the PSA test for prostate cancer. Many lives could be saved through a test that is no more invasive than gargling.”
The abovementioned study theorized that CD44 could be detected in an oral rinse by flushing out the CD44 protein by washing over the cellular membranes of interest in the throat and mouth.
Find more details from the full report at Web Wire and Science Daily.
Tags: CD44, head-and-neck-squamous-cell-carcinoma, oral-rinse-detection-of-early-head-and-neck-cancerRelated Stories
POSTED IN: on cancer diagnostics, on head and neck cancer
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