IIT Indore Researchers Develop Non-Invasive Method To Detect Early Oral Cancer Signs

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): In a potentially significant breakthrough for oral cancer screening, researchers at IIT Indore have developed a non-invasive method that could detect molecular warning signs of oral cancer using a saliva sample and a gentle swab from inside the mouth.

The research was led by Hem Chandra Jha of the Mehta Family School of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering and Tarun Prakash Verma, in collaboration with Deepak Agrawal of Government College of Dentistry, Indore.

The innovation could be particularly important in India, where oral cancer remains a major health challenge and many patients are diagnosed only after the disease has advanced.

A biopsy, the current gold-standard diagnostic method, is invasive and difficult to repeat for monitoring high-risk patients.

The team studied oral squamous cell carcinoma, the most common oral cancer, and oral submucous fibrosis, a potentially precancerous condition associated with areca nut, gutkha and tobacco use.

Researchers analysed saliva and oral-mucosal swab samples from healthy individuals, OSMF patients and oral cancer patients using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The analysis identified distinct molecular changes linked to fat metabolism, energy production, oxidative stress, tissue repair and immune responses. Several changes appeared before abnormalities became clinically visible.

By combining saliva and swab findings, researchers developed a broader molecular picture of the progression from healthy tissue to precancerous lesions and eventually oral cancer.

If validated in larger clinical studies, the approach could help doctors detect molecular changes before visible symptoms, identify high-risk individuals, monitor precancerous lesions and reduce the need for repeated invasive procedures.

It could also support affordable, scalable screening in regions with a high burden of oral cancer.

IIT Indore Director Suhas Joshi said the study demonstrates how advanced molecular science can be translated into a simple approach for early cancer detection.

Jha said oral cancer leaves molecular footprints in saliva and on the oral mucosal surface before becoming clinically obvious. The team's aim is to convert these signals into practical tools for earlier detection and monitoring of high-risk lesions.

The technology is non-invasive, potentially economical, quick and suited to point-of-care use, making it potentially valuable in areas where specialist cancer diagnostics are limited.

The findings have been published in the British Journal of Cancer, and a patent application has been filed and is under process.

The researchers will now validate the method in larger and more diverse patient groups before developing targeted, easy-to-use tests for routine clinical practice.