2 research outputs found
Looking in the Mouth for Noninvasive Gene Expression-Based Methods to Detect Oral, Oropharyngeal, and Systemic Cancer
Noninvasive diagnosis, whether by sampling body fluids, body scans, or other technique, has the potential to simplify early cancer
detection. A classic example is Pap smear screening, which has helped to reduce cervical cancer 75% over the last 50 years. No test
is error-free; the real concern is sufficient accuracy combined with ease of use. This paper will discuss methods that measure gene
expression or epigenetic markers in oral cells or saliva to diagnose oral and pharyngeal cancers, without requiring surgical biopsy.
Evidence for lung and other distal cancer detection is also reviewed
Analysis of RNA from Brush Cytology Detects Changes in B2M, CYP1B1 and KRT17 Levels with OSCC in Tobacco Users
RNA expression analysis of oral keratinocytes can be used to detect early oral cancer but a limitation is the inability to obtain high quality RNA from oral tissue without using biopsies. While oral cytology cell samples can be obtained from patients in a minimally invasive
manner they have not been validated for quantitative analysis of RNA expression. Earlier we showed RNA from brush cytology of hamster Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC)
showed differential expression of B2M and CYP1B1 using real time RT-PCR in a Dibenz[a,I]pyrene, tobacco carcinogen, induced model of this disease. Here we show
reproducibility of this approach to measuring gene expression in humans. Cytology brush samples from 12 tobacco and betel related OSCC and 17 nonmalignant oral lesions revealed B2M mRNA was enriched in tumor samples while CYP1B1 mRNA was reduced, similar to what was seen in the model system. Additionally, we showed that KRT17 mRNA, a gene linked to OSCC in another brush cytology study, was also enriched in OSCC versus nonmalignant lesions, again supporting the promise of using RNA from brush oral cytology to reproducibly monitor oral gene expression