(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-11 09:20

WASHINGTON - Scientists in the United States are developing a screening test for breast cancer that checks a woman's saliva for evidence of the disease to help find tumors early, when they are most treatable.

A color-enhanced MRI of a breast is seen in an undated file photo. Scientists in the United States are developing a screening test for breast cancer that checks a woman's saliva for evidence of the disease to help find tumors early, when they are most treatable. [Agencies]

In research published on Thursday, the scientists said they identified 49 proteins in saliva that the screening test would track to distinguish healthy women from those with benign breast tumors and those with malignant breast tumors.

Breast cancer triggers a change in the type and amount of proteins in secretions from the salivary glands, said Charles Streckfus, a professor of diagnostic sciences at the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston.

The proteins are produced by tumor cells and affect cell growth, cell metabolism and cell self-destruction - all of which go awry in cancer, Streckfus said.

Streckfus and colleagues tested saliva from 30 women - 10 healthy women, 10 with malignant breast cancer and 10 with benign breast tumors.

The pattern of proteins is different in each of the three groups, the researchers reported in the journal Cancer Investigation.

More work needs to be done before a screening test based on these proteins can be made available to the public, Streckfus said. But US government approval for the test may be sought within five years, he added.

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