title: Detection of lung cancer by oral examination.
abstract: Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Cigarette smoking is the predominant cause of lung cancer. Researchers found that tobacco-induced molecular changes in the oral epithelium are similar to those in the lung epithelium. Furthermore, there has been considerable progress in investigating the tumorigenesis of oral epithelium using molecular markers. These results offer hope that we can predict lung cancer in smokers by oral examination, which is much easier and more practical than lung biopsy. The hypothesis is to collect oral epithelial cells by gently scraping the oral mucosa, and analyze the DNA variation in these cells using molecular biological methods. Therefore, the oral epithelium is serving as a surrogate tissue for assessing smoking-induced molecular damage to the lungs and thus have important implications for early detection of lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Zhonghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Guanze
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Man
authors.forename: Lichun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jing
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D003945:Diagnosis, Oral / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D012907:Smoking / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor