The researchers plan to validate the findings in larger and more diverse groups of patients before developing targeted, easy-to-use tests that can be brought into routine clinical practice, officials said on Thursday.
The technology is designed as a point-of-care, economical, quick and non-invasive method, which researchers said could be particularly significant in a country where access to specialist cancer diagnostics remains limited outside major cities.
At present, doctors confirm oral cancer through a biopsy, which involves removing a tissue sample from the affected part of the mouth. Researchers said the procedure can be painful and that repeated biopsies are not practical. The new technique, by contrast, does not require an invasive procedure and could provide a low-cost and rapid screening method.
According to the researchers, the technology could also make early oral cancer screening more accessible in remote and rural areas.
The study examined two conditions: oral squamous cell carcinoma, the most common form of oral cancer, and oral submucous fibrosis, which often develops among people who chew areca nut, gutkha or tobacco and can eventually turn cancerous.
Researchers found that saliva carries chemical signals from activity inside the mouth, while a soft swab of the oral lining collects cells and proteins directly from the tissue.
Using an advanced laboratory technique called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, the researchers compared samples from healthy individuals, patients with oral submucous fibrosis and patients with oral cancer.
They identified distinctive changes in how the body handles fat, energy, oxidative stress, tissue repair and immune activity. According to the researchers, these changes appeared before the disease became visible to the naked eye.
By combining the findings from saliva and oral swab samples, the team was able to develop a more comprehensive picture of how healthy tissue gradually progresses into a precancerous lesion and eventually into cancer, the statement said.
The technique was developed under the leadership of IIT Indore professor Hem Chandra Jha.
“Oral cancer leaves molecular footprints in saliva and on the oral mucosal surface before it becomes clinically obvious. Our aim is to convert these non-invasive signals into practical tools for earlier detection and better monitoring of high-risk oral lesions,” Jha said.
The findings have been published in the British Journal of Cancer. A patent application for the technology has also been filed and is under process.
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