MUST READ! HPV: Australian Researchers Develops New Saliva Test To Diagnose Patients With Oral Cancer Caused By HPV
HPV: Medical researchers from Queensland University Of Technology-Australia have developed the world’s first saliva test for detecting oropharyngeal cancer caused by human papillomavirus-16 or HPV-16 .
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The new diagnostics is able to detect such cancer even in asymptomatic individuals.
The research findings and the development of the new saliva based diagnostics has been published in the journal
Frontiers in Oncology.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.00408/full
The Australian researchers suggest the new tests could be utilized for testing larger cohort of healthy asymptomatic individuals and become routine widespread screening for HPV-16, the main factor behind skyrocketing rates of oropharyngeal cancer.
Dr Chamindie Punyadeera, senior author of the study from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane told Thailand Medical News, "It is critical to detect such oral cancers early as oropharyngeal squamous cells carcinoma often presents at a late stage with patients which make treatments difficult.”
She added, "This research for the first time provides a solid scientific foundation to initiate a screening trial in high-risk individuals to detect HPV-driven oropharyngeal cancer. Saliva testing could be broadly implemented and utilized in a screening triasl in the future."
The novel saliva test was developed by Dr Punyadeera and first author Dr Kai Dun Tang also from Queensland University of Technology.
The saliva based diagnostics is administered as an oral rinse: the individual swishes a saline solution around in his or her mouth for a minute or two, and then spits the sample into a tube.
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The new saliva diagnostic was being scrutinized in an ongoing HPV-16 DNA prevalence study, which involved 650 healthy participants being tested for oral HPV-16 DNA.
The researchers said, "Of these, 3 have been identified to have persistent oral HPV-16 DNA infection."
The researchers approached these three participants and one middle-aged male who had been consistently HPV-16 DNA positive for a period of 36 months and whose HPV-16 viral load had been steadily rising over time, was invited to attend an ear, nose and throat clinic for assessment.
The researchers said, "Fortunately, initial clinical examination of the oropharynx including palpation and white light revealed no significant abnormalities,"
Dr Punyadeera explained that
standard clinical assessment for oropharyngeal malignancy includes white light examination for masses, detection of irregularities or asymmetry of the underlying structures and palpation of the tonsil and tongue base.
She added that cross-sectional imaging with CT or MRI can be useful as well. However these imaging studies are unable to detect lesions smaller than a few millimeters in size.
For this specific isolated patient, salivary oral rinse samples had been collected at baseline, and again at 6, 12, and 36 months after study enrollment as well as 2 weeks after the patient decided to undergo a bilateral tonsillectomy.
The researchers are conducting further studies and testing before submitting for regulatory approvals and to subsequently start commercialization of the diagnostic test kits.
For more on
HPV research, keep logging to Thailand Medical News
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Read also: https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/most-people-not-aware-about-hpv-or-its-cancer-causing--effects-despite-hpv-related-cancers-increasing-worldwide-
