A new salivary test can help to detect prostate cancer accurately

A new home salivary test can help identify men with a high risk of prostate cancer more accurately than blood tests, leading to early diagnosis and more successful treatment.

Prostate cancer is the second most common form of cancer in men after skin cancer.

Currently, there is no standard evidence to control prostate cancer. A doctor may attract blood for a specific prostate antigen test (PSA) or perform a rectal exam, but both of these types of performances require tracking before a diagnosis is made.

PSA blood tests measure the level of a specific prostate -produced molecule. However, diagnostic accuracy is compromised as an elevated PSA level can indicate a prostate issue, but not necessarily prostate cancer.

In contrast, new salivary tests analyze DNA, seeking a series of small genetic changes associated with prostate cancer.

Trials show that this approach is more effective, and men who are categorized as a high risk due to these changes are more likely to have prostate cancer than men with raised PSA levels.

Moreover, the spit test, which is not available commercial, fakely identified prostate cancer less times than the PSA test and discovered a higher number of aggressive cancers that are rapidly growing and more likely to spread.

“For now, there is no reliable method to detect aggressive prostate cancer, but this study brings us a step closer to finding the disease faster in those people who need treatment,” said Naser Turabi, director of rehearsal and implementation of the UK cancer.

“It is encouraging to see that genetic testing can help to guide a more intended approach to the examination based on one’s risk to develop prostate cancer. Now more research is needed to confirm whether this tool can save lives from the disease so that it can be supported to improve the diagnosis.”

When cancer is localized to the prostate, it is often curable. The five-year survival rate of prostate cancer, when detected early, is over 99%, according to the prostate cancer foundation.

However, if prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it can become deadly. When metastasone, prostate cancer usually moves into bones, lungs, lymph nodes, liver or brain, making early critical detection.

In the study of 6,000 European men between 55 and 69, spit samples were collected to calculate polygenic risk results (PRS). These PRS were based on 130 genetic variations associated with prostate cancer.

As with most types of cancer, certain groups are more at risk for prostate cancer. The average age of diagnosis is 67, and prostate cancer is considered rare in men under 40 years. African -Americans and African Caribbean men are also more at risk for the disease.

Other risk factors for the disease include overweight, family history of cancer, plus factors such as high blood pressure, lack of exercise and being longer than average, according to NiH.

In this latest study, men with the highest risk results were referred to further consideration.

After an MRI biopsy and prostate, 40% were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Meanwhile, 78% of men diagnosed as a result of the salivary test had a “normal” PSA level, a result that would usually indicate that no further examination was required.

Of the 187 cancers discovered, 55% were aggressive cancers, compared to 36% of those identified by a PSA test in a recent study.

“With this test, it may be possible to turn the wave into prostate cancer,” said Ros Eelles, a professor at the Cancer Research Institute and a consultant at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Foundation, who jointly led the study.

“We have shown that a simple, cheap test, to identify men at higher risk because of their genetic composition is an effective tool for catching cancer early.”

Treatment for prostate cancer includes several options, depending on the specific diagnosis. Patients may undergo surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation or target therapy of medication.

In addition to early detection and prostate cancer treatment, researchers are hopeful that the salivary test will eliminate unnecessary medical intervention in patients with low risk.

PSA tests do not distinguish between aggressive or non -aggressive tumors, causing many men to be diagnosed with cancers that would not hurt them in the long run and/or referring to unnecessary MRI scans, invasive biopsy and other treatments.

“Based on decades of research on genetics of prostate cancer genetics, our study shows that the theory works in practice – we can identify men at risk of aggressive cancers who need further tests and save men who are at lower risk of unnecessary treatments,” Eeles said.