A 10-minute saliva test for cancer that scientists claim could revolutionise diagnosis has been unveiled .
The £15 "liquid biopsy" test looks for fragments of genetic material in a tiny drop of saliva.
Early
results from lung cancer patients 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: "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
hoped the test, due to be tested in trials with lung cancer patients in
China later this year, could be available in the UK by the end of the
decade.
Eventually it could
be used to diagnose a range of different cancers, said Prof Wong,
speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC.
The
team came up with the test after discovering that 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 Prof Wong.
Soource Daily Daily Mail.
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