Saliva test shows promise for earlier and easier detection of mouth and throat cancer

(Elsevier) Unfortunately, cancers that occur in the back of the mouth and upper throat are often not diagnosed until they become advanced. A report in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics describes the use of acoustofluidics, a new non-invasive method that analyzes saliva for the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV)-16, the pathogenic strain associated with oropharyngeal cancers (OPCs). This novel technique detected OPC in whole saliva in 40 percent of patients tested and 80% of confirmed OPC...