Landmark in cancer treatment

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee have identified a new method of detecting breast & ovarian cancers — two of the worst forms of cancer, which are responsible for approximately one third of all cancers in women and one fifth of all cancer-related deaths worldwide. The research published in the journal, 'FASEB Bioadvances' details the use of whole saliva as a body fluid for early detection of breast and ovarian cancers, as opposed to the traditional method of using blood samples. 

The research team led by Prof. Kiran Ambatipudi from the Biotechnology Department at IIT Roorkee has got a breakthrough in identifying certain proteins present in the saliva, which act as potential biomarkers indicative of breast & ovarian cancer metastasis.

The team compared the samples from healthy individuals against the samples collected from stage IV breast & ovarian cancer patients who had undergone at least 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Speaking about the research, Prof. Kiran said, “Due to the heterogeneous and asymptomatic nature of breast and ovarian cancers, their early detection has been difficult using traditional methods such as mammography, blood flow patterns by colour flow Doppler imaging and transvaginal ultrasound examination, due to high diagnostic costs and radiation exposure. Our attempt was to utilise saliva as a non-invasive sample source to identify specific protein biomarkers, which indicate breast & ovarian cancer metastasis. In patients who have undergone three cycles of chemotherapy, the salivary proteins can also act as an indicator of the patient’s response to chemotherapy”. 

“The results of the present study serve as an initial step towards the development of saliva-based clinical tests”, he added. — TNS