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Goodbye mammogram, hello spit cup
JACKSON, MISS.--Spitting in a cup to diagnose breast cancer may be years away, but current research makes it seem like a real possibility.
Dr. Charles Streckfus, a University of Mississippi Medical Center scientist, has a new grant to elaborate on a pilot study that reported cancer markers in saliva for the first time.
Streckfus, professor of diagnostic sciences in the School of Dentistry, received a James A. Shannon Director's Award from the National Institutes of Dental Research (NIDR) to test saliva in 160 women to see if certain markers indicate the presence of breast cancer.
This study, funded for $62,500 from NIDR, follows preliminary work in which 28 women were tested. Those results indicated sufficient correlation to warrant further study, Streckfus said. The pilot study, in fact, was the first report of cancer markers in saliva and the first observation of elevated levels among women with breast cancer. The markers were at very low levels or nonexistent in women who did not have cancer and significantly elevated in patients who had cancer.
The cancer markers Streckfus is testing for are CA 15-3, a cancer antigen, EGFR, a growth factor receptor, Cathespin-D, and Waf 1, an oncogene.
Oncologists at the Medical Center enlisted their patients as volunteers.
The larger collaborative project will enroll four groups of women: those who have never had breast tumors, those who have had non-malignant breast tumors, those who have cancer in the breast only and those whose breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
"Our pilot test was small. We only tested 28 women. This larger study will allow us to look at variables such as the size of the tumor. We know from our small study that the saliva test is sensitive and can detect the presence of these markers in women with breast cancer. Now we'll make sure of its specificity--whether it will pick up cancer and nothing else," Streckfus said. "That's the crux of a good diagnostic test."
Streckfus--one of several "spit doctors" in the country--decided several years ago that the same markers scientists looked for when they pulverized a tumor specimen had to be present in blood and saliva.
"The technology has just gotten so much better in the last few years. We're able to detect amounts much smaller than we've ever been able to detect before. Sometimes it's like looking for a grain of salt in a swimming pool full of water."
The Shannon award--half of which comes directly from the NIH director's budget---is designed to fund promising research projects that could be the basis for larger-scale research.
"If we get good results from this series of patients, I think we'll be in a position to do a much larger study with many more patients," Streckfus said. "And if we get really lucky, this work could ultimately mean that a home test for breast cancer could be developed."
A simpler test for diagnosis of recurrence could also be a boon for patients who've had radical mastectomies. "Obviously, those patients can't have mammograms," Streckfus said.
The results of Streckfus' preliminary study were published in the Journal of the American Dental Association and reported at the Southwest Oncology Group meeting in October and at a meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in November.
"Someday, women may be able to be screened for breast cancer at health fairs," Streckfus said.
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