Inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria and study summary
Early diagnosis of cancer is a priority for the NHS, with a target of 75% of new cancers diagnosed at an early stage by 2028. Diagnosing cancer early is key to allow a wider range of treatment options which increase the chances of survival. Cancer affecting the mouth, throat, neck, and the gut have some of the lowest levels of early diagnosis amongst all cancer types in the UK. These cancers very often have vague symptoms and are common amongst people with lifestyle habits such as smoking tobacco and drinking too much alcohol, making them very difficult to find early. Certain markers in the body are linked to cancers - this project aims to find a new way to assist the early diagnosis of cancer in primary care and identify people with a high risk of cancer who might need an urgent referral from their GP for more tests. We will do this by developing special sensors that can fit on a toothbrush and find changes in these markers in saliva during teeth brushing done at home or in the GP surgery. We hope these new sensors can detect these markers related to cancers in the mouth, throat, neck and gut quickly, easily and cheaply. This particular part of the project will involve collecting and analysing saliva samples from patients recently diagnosed with a cancer in the mouth, throat or upper airways (often called head & neck cancer) for the selected markers. We will also collect and analyse saliva samples from healthy individuals to compare to the patients with cancer to confirm which markers should be picked up by the special sensors. The findings will then be passed to the members of the research team who are building the sensors to inform their work.
