Simple ‘swish-and-spit’ mouthwash could detect earliest signs of killer cancer

A SIMPLE ‘swish-and-spit’ mouthwash could detect the earliest signs of stomach cancer that strikes thousands of Brits a year.

The oral rinse would pick up specific bacteria linked to gastric cancer before it’s even formed, researchers said.

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“In the cancer world, if you find patients after they’ve developed cancer, it’s a little too late,” Shruthi Reddy Perati, author and general surgery resident at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, explained.

“The ideal time to try to prevent cancer is when it’s just about to turn into cancer.”

By analysing mouth bacteria samples of people with or at risk of stomach cancer, researchers identified specific biomarkers tied to the disease to develop their cancer spotting mouthwash.

“We were able to identify people who had pre-cancerous conditions,” Dr Perati said.  

“As a screening and prevention tool, this has enormous potential.”

While 6,500 Brits are diagnosed with the disease each year, stomach cancer is the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide according to researchers.

Early symptoms of the disease can be similar to conditions like stomach ulcers, and include difficulty swallowing, unexplained weight loss, tummy pain and loss of appetite.

But stomach cancer can be deadly if not found early.

Rutgers researchers analyzed bacteria samples from the mouths of 98 patients scheduled for endoscopy.

Thirty of them were known to have stomach cancer, while another had pre-cancerous gastric conditions and the remaining 38 were healthy.

The study team found distinct differences between the oral microbiomes of the healthy group compared to the cancerous and pre-cancerous patients.

Very few differences were observed between the samples from patients with cancer and those at risk of it.

This suggested that the changes in the mouth microbiome may happen as soon as the stomach starts to undergo changes that can eventually turn into cancer.

Dr Perati observed: “We see that the oral microbiome and the stomach microbiome are connected, and knowing what bugs are in your mouth tells us what the stomach environment is like.

“That has a huge implication that could lead to some practice-changing tests and guidelines.”

The findings – which will be presented at the Digestive Disease Conference this month – suggest that mouth bacteria alone could indicate whether someone is at risk of stomach cancer.

“Even with a small cohort, we were able to see some stark differences and believe the findings are very promising,” Dr Perati said.

Based on the biomarkers they’d identified, the study authors developed a model of the 13 bacterial strains that were present in the mouths of cancerous and pre-cancerous patients.

They now plan to conduct larger studies to test whether their findings can be applied to a wider population.

Referring to the stomach cancer cases in the US, Dr Perati noted that more than half of patients with the disease don’t receive a diagnosis until “the cancer is already at an advanced stage”.

There is not national screening programme for stomach cancer in the UK, Cancer Research UK notes.

This is because the cancer is relatively uncommon, compared to something like bowel cancer, so many people might be subjected to unnecessary tests.

But it said you may be given tests or treatment if you are at increased risk of developing it.

You should speak to your GP if you have a strong family history of stomach cancer, for example if:

• Many close family members were diagnosed with stomach cancer and other cancers, such as bowel or breast cancer
• Close family members were diagnosed with stomach cancer at a young age, for example under under the age of 40