Salivary biomarkers for oral cancer and pre-cancer screening: a review
Abstract
Objective
The
objective of the study was to conduct a systematic review of the
literature assessing potential salivary biomarkers of oral cancer and
pre-cancer and discuss emerging issues and challenges in relation to
oral cancer and pre-cancer diagnostics.
Materials and methods
Search
for articles involved the Medline, PubMed, and EMBASE. Specific terms
were used from January 1995 to March 2017 by three experts.
Results
This
search collected 270 articles, of which 105 articles such as reviews,
case reports, news, letter to editor, etc. in first round and 117
articles such as publications in other languages than English, non-human
studies, etc. were excluded. The remaining 48 articles considered
analyzing whole saliva as well as specific gland saliva. Thirty-one
studies considered oral stimuli such as eating, drinking, and oral
hygiene practices for varied periods of time prior to sample collection.
The time of collection of saliva was morning in most studies, but the
exact time of collection was not mentioned. Three studies showed to have
evaluated the whole saliva without centrifugation. Two-dimensional gel
electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry were the most commonly used
methods. Most of the potential salivary biomarkers of oral cancer are
salivary proteins.
Conclusion
Combination
approach of salivary biomarkers could be used as screening tool to
improve early detection and diagnostic precision of oral pre-cancer and
cancer.
Clinical relevance
The
current findings are of importance for clinicians and researchers to
mitigate the challenges in salivary-based diagnosis of oral cancer and
to evaluate reliable, specific, and sensitive salivary biomarkers for
oral pre-cancer and cancer diagnosis.
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