title: Molecular detection of cancer cells in saliva from oral and pharyngeal cancer patients.
abstract: A key to improve the prognosis of head and neck cancers is an early diagnosis of the disease. No screening method to detect these cancers has been developed yet. Molecular techniques using polymerase chain reaction are a sensitive method to detect a small population of cancer cells among normal cells. We conducted a series of microsatellite analysis to detect cancer cells in saliva from 23 oral and pharyngeal cancer patients. Eight microsatellite markers were selected to test for microsatellite instability (MSI) in the tumor and saliva samples. Of 23 samples, 5 (22%) had MSI in the tumor samples. In 4 of 5 (80%) MSI positive samples, we detected the identical MSI in saliva. The possibility of the molecular screening and molecular follow-up is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Tokai University, School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan. okami@is.icc.u-tokai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okami
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imate
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamada
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012463:Saliva; D014067:Tonsillar Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm