Israeli Startup Developing Saliva Test to Detect Cancer

Every year, 400,000 people test positive for oropharyngeal cancer, and tragically, the survival rate is only 50% because of the lack of reliable early diagnostic tests.

By Shula Rosen

Our mouths can indicate much about us, not just the words that emerge from them.

Our saliva comes into direct contact with many tissues in the body, including infected tissue, and can show the presence of disease, even at early stages.

An Israeli startup, Salignostics, which has developed a saliva-based pregnancy and COVID test, is teaming up with the ARC Innovation Center and the Sheba Medical Center to develop a test that can indicate the presence of oral cancer cells from a saliva sample.

Every year, 400,000 people test positive for oropharyngeal cancer, and tragically, the survival rate is only 50%.

One of the reasons for the relatively high mortality rate is the lack of effective diagnostic tools to detect the presence of oral cancer in its earliest phases.

Conventional diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer is through tissue samples, which can only indicate the presence of the disease when it has already metastasized.

The saliva test for oropharyngeal cancer is thought to be just the beginning. As it is developed, the technology may have other applications in diagnosing additional types of cancer.

Salignostics has already successfully developed a saliva-based pregnancy test that detects the presence of certain hormones in a woman’s saliva.

This is a cleaner and easier alternative to traditional urine-based pregnancy tests.

In addition, the company’s antigen saliva tests also detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus without uncomfortable nose swabs.

The rapid diagnosis with only saliva makes it easy to test for COVID-19 at school or the office.

Dr. Guy Krief, cofounder and deputy CEO of Salignostics, discussed the implications of his company’s early diagnostic tests.

“Early detection may increase the chance of extending the lives of oral cavity cancer patients and recovery. Additionally, if the development is successful, the path will be opened to diagnose additional types of cancer based on saliva samples, which may prolong and save many lives.”