Dental News - New saliva biomarker test helps detect oral cancer

Dental Tribune USA

Mon. 30 July 2012

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Advanced Laboratory Services, in collaboration with a research team at the University of Southern California, has developed a new test that can assist health care professionals in the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of oral cancers. Advanced Laboratory’s saliva biomarker test measures three specific biomarkers that play a role in cancer development.

As a monitoring tool, the test has the potential to be an essential part of every patient’s annual general-health or dental check-up.

With monitoring of biomarker levels determined by the saliva biomarker test, cancer development in patients can be detected far earlier than previously possible. On average, one person in the United States dies every hour from oral cancer; but it’s not because the cancer is difficult to discover or diagnose. It’s because the cancer is often detected late in its development.

One of the advantages of the saliva biomarker test is that it does not rely on localization of a lesion to detect cancer, and can thus detect oral cancers at treatable stages.

Health care professionals can utilize this test during multiple stages of diagnosis and treatment:
As a yearly screening tool: The test can be used as an annual screening to assess cancer risk-levels in patients 18 and older.
As a prognosis tool: Patients already diagnosed with oral cancer with higher biomarker levels tend to have poorer outcomes, and may require more aggressive treatment.
As a post-treatment monitoring tool: The test can be used to assess whether reoccurrence is likely before a new cancer lesion has developed.

Advanced Laboratory’s test is a simple, noninvasive saliva test that can detect biomarkers across a range of cancers in the oral cavity, including cancers of the tongue, floor of the mouth, cheek lining, gums, palate, salivary glands and tissues that line the mouth and lips.

Health care professionals interested in the effort to find and fight oral cancer can consider use of the test for patients with risk factors for oral cancer — including tobacco and alcohol users and those with persistent viral infections such as the human papilloma virus, or HPV. Patients who have been diagnosed but not yet treated for oral cancer, or who have undergone treatment for oral cancer can also take the test to help with prognosis or detect reoccurrence.

Collection kits consist of a saliva collection tube, instructions, refrigerator pack, requisition form and FedEx mailer. Collection kits are provided to health care professionals free of charge, with no upfront fees or set-up costs. The cost of the test, billed when the sample is received, is $179.99 for all three biomarker levels.

Kits are shipped to Advanced Laboratory Services’ lab in Pennsylvania. The lab is certified by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and COLA (formerly Commission on Laboratory Accreditation), and it is HIPAA compliant.

Advanced Laboratory Services Inc. is a state-of-the-art laboratory located just outside of Philadelphia, Pa. With both clinical and research divisions, the company is committed to developing and releasing new, cutting-edge laboratory tests to aid clinical diagnosis and treatment, including its recently launched, exclusive Oral Cancer Saliva Screening test.

(Source: Advanced Laboratory Services)

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