According to reports released this weekend, the design and development of a non-invasive, at-home cancer test signals a major leap forward in the field of oncology.
The ten-minute test, which is due to enter full clinical trials among lung cancer patients later this year, simply requires a saliva sample and boasts a 100% accuracy rate.
As it stands, scientists are only in a position to use blood tests to detect the presence of the potentially fatal disease, and that's if a biopsy has already been conducted and a tumour sequenced - an approach which monitors cancer spread but cannot be used for an initial test.
However, according to the professor of oncology at California State University, David Wong, it is possible to detect tumour DNA in the circulation of bodily fluids through a process known as liquid biopsy.
Commenting on the test which Mr. Wong hopes to see available by 2020, the professor told those gathered at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: "If there is circulating signature of a tumour in a person's blood or saliva, this test will find it."
Drawing down on the importance of early detection against a disease which affects one in three, Mr. Wong continued: "Any time you gain in finding out that someone has a life-threatening cancer, the sooner the better."
"With this capability, it can be implemented by the patient themselves in a home check, or dentist or pharmacy," he explained. "Down the road it might be possible to test for multiple cancers at the same time."
The test which will cost in the realm of £15 is currently awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration in America and expects to receive it within the next two years.
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