MRC research may lead to a screening test for mouth cancer
18 April 2006
A new test, developed by Medical Research Council scientists in Cambridge, shows promise as a simple and accurate way of detecting mouth cancer and pre-cancerous mouth lesions – according to research published today (18 April) in the British Journal of Cancer.
The research could form the basis of a population screening programme for mouth cancer, which accounts for more deaths in the UK every year than cervical and testicular cancer combined.
Led by Dr Nick Coleman at the MRC Cancer Cell Unit in Cambridge, and supported by a grant from Cancer Research UK, the team developed a technique in which cells are scraped from the mouth just as cells can be scraped from the cervix to make “smear” samples.
They then took 101 mouth smears from patients and examined them for the presence of cancer markers called mini-chromosome maintenance proteins (MCMs), which are key to cells’ ability to duplicate their DNA.
MCM proteins were virtually always found in the cancerous smears but not in the normal smears. The next step will be to carry out more extensive studies to find out how effective the test is in larger populations.
Mouth cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and yet no simple test currently exists to distinguish cancers and pre-cancers of the mouth from benign diseases.
Mouth cancer is difficult to identify clinically and patients who are suspected of having mouth cancer must either undergo a surgical procedure or not be tested at all.
Dr Nick Coleman said “Mouth cancer can be a very aggressive disease which requires disfiguring surgery and is often fatal. Development of a feasible test that can be applied to large numbers of people for the early detection of this cancer is an important advance, as the earlier a cancer is treated, the better the chances of survival for the patient.”
Professor Ron Laskey, a co-author of the paper and Director of the MRC Cancer Cell Unit in Cambridge said “This test illustrates how the recent explosion in knowledge of cancer cells can be exploited to benefit patients. There is now an urgent need for large-scale trials of mouth cancer screening.”
For further information contact the MRC Press Office on 020 7637 6011.
Editor’s Notes:
I. S. Scott, E. Odell, P. Chatrath, L.S. Morris, R. J. Davies, S. L. Vowler, R.A. Laskey, and N. Coleman. British Journal of Cancer.
4,400 new cases of mouth cancer occurred in the UK in 2001, the latest year for which figures are available.
