Researchers are finding pancreatic cancer biomarkers in saliva, reports a study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. In 2010, this same research team also found biomarkers for other diseases in saliva, demonstrating the utility of saliva in the detection of systemic disease.
Communication occurs between a tumor distal to the oral cavity and saliva leading to salivary biomarkers for systemic diseases.
Extracellular RNA from various diseases is known to show up in saliva, though researchers aren’t yet sure why or how this mechanism occurs.
Utilizing saliva to detect the early onset of pancreatic cancer and other systemic diseases is ideal, as it is noninvasive and easily accessible. Industry experts are hopeful that salivary diagnostic technology will help in the early detection of diseases like pancreatic cancer, which is often deadly because it is not found early enough in its progression.
