A blood test to detect oral cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted disease, may be on its way. Findings of a new study suggested that the presence of HPV antibodies in the blood may help detect possible oral cancer prior to its onset.
Oropharyngeal cancers were put on spotlight when actor Michael Douglas linked his cancer to oral sex when interviewed recently. Douglas is suffering from stage four cancer but is said to be in remission at the moment.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the incidence of HPV-associated cancers is on the rise. Oropharyngeal cancers in particular increased in incidence between 2000 and 2009 affected mostly persons who are between 55 and 64 years old.
The new study published on Journal of Clinical Oncology on June 17 concluded that one of three individuals with oropharyngeal cancer had HPV antibodies against those without cancer. These HPV antibodies can be detected years before the clinical onset of cancer and may soon pave the way for a simple blood test to identify patients at risk for such type of cancer.
While most oropharyngeal cancers are blamed on alcohol consumption and tobacco use, the study focused on HPV infection due to the higher cases of HPV type 16 infection in Europe and the United States.
The proponents noted that about 60 percent of cases of oropharyngeal cancers in the U.S. are caused by HPV 16 infection.
"Our study shows not only that the E6 antibodies are present prior to diagnosis-but that in many cases, the antibodies are there more than a decade before the cancer was clinically detectable, an important feature of a successful screening biomarker," said Aimee Kreimer, lead author from the National Cancer Institute, in a press statement.
The E6 antibodies Kreimer referred to are viral genes that are found in the blood of oropharynx cancer patients. The E6 are partly responsible for the formation of tumor.
Using the data from over almost a thousand patients with head and neck cancer and almost 1,600 control subjects, the researchers were able to conclude that the HPV16 E6 biomarker is present 10 years prior to the diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancers.
"If the predictive capability of the HPV16 E6 antibody holds up in other studies, we may want to consider developing a screening tool based on this result," said Dr. Paul Brennan of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The researchers noted that detection prior to the diagnosis of the oropharyngeal cancer may lead to higher chances of survival of patients.
