Scientist Ruchi Gupta working on the lollipop or lozenge to diagnose mouth cancer. Credit: University of Birmingham
Key points:
- A team of researchers is working on developing a “lollipop” diagnostic that can detect mouth cancer.
- The device relies on a smart hydrogel, a saliva sample and UV light.
- The test could replace the current gold standard, which is invasive, time-consuming and expensive.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham have been awarded £350,000 over the next three years to create a prototype flavored “lollipop” from smart hydrogel that can detect mouth cancer.
The lollipop will be created from a smart hydrogel previously developed by Ruchi Gupta and her team. The idea is that patients suck on the lollipop, transferring a saliva sample into the hydrogel. Scientists then release the caught proteins by blasting the hydrogel with UV light, then analyze the liquid for saliva proteins—which indicate the early stages of mouth cancer.
Around 12,400 people are diagnosed with cancers of the head and neck in the UK every year. Currently, diagnosing mouth cancer can involve putting a flexible camera on the end of a tube through the nose or mouth and taking a biopsy for testing. This procedure is invasive, time-consuming and requires an endoscopist. And while they are the gold standard for diagnosing mouth cancer, biopsies and nasoendoscopies require great skill to carry out and can feel unpleasant for patients.
“The thought of putting a lollipop round your mouth instead of having a biopsy in the first instance is amazing,” said cancer survivor Rachel Parsons, who needed a 10-hour operation to remove a cancerous tumor from her cheek and replace the skin with tissue and veins from her forearm. “I wish something like that had existed when I was diagnosed.”
Gupta says she is thrilled to receive funding to begin the next phase of the project.
“Smart hydrogels have really exciting potential for diagnosing mouth cancer,” she said. “This project is an exciting first step toward an entirely new way to identify mouth cancers earlier. Research like this is guiding us toward a future where people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”