An early assessment tool for the disease, which kills about 12,000 people year in the UK, appears to be more accurate than the usual blood test, according to preliminary findings presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.
According to experts from the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research, London, the work has the potential to “turn the tide on prostate cancer” by providing a low-cost and user-friendly alternative for screening for the condition.
They said that it might also protect a great number of people who are less vulnerable from needless and intrusive procedures.
6.142 men, ages 55 to 69, who were assessed to be at an elevated risk of prostate cancer were recruited for the experiment via their GP clinics.
The 130 genetic variants in the DNA code that have been connected to prostate cancer served as the basis for the researchers’ polygenic risk score calculation.
588 males who contained multiple variations and had the highest risk ratings were invited for additional screening.
Compared to the traditional blood test, which analyzes levels of a protein called prostate-specific antigen (PSA), the team found that the saliva test detected a higher proportion of aggressive tumors and produced fewer false positive results.
Forty percent of men who scored highly on the saliva test were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer following an MRI scan and biopsy.
