Developing an In-vitro Diagnostic Risk-Stratification Test for Oral Cancer

Saliva samples are collected from patients before clinically driven oral biopsy for lesions suspicious for cancer. Specimens are processed by laboratory personnel blinded to the tissue diagnosis. Six pre-specified mRNA markers (IL1b, IL8, SAT, DUSP1, OAZ1 and S100P) are measured by polymerase chain reaction. Markers are compared in cancer and control by raw Ct values as well as by delta Ct after adjustment for housekeeping gens. Appropriate housekeeping genes are identified in a random subset of cancer and control patients and then verified in the remaining subjects. Predictive models are generated by a pre-specified method and robustness evaluated by bootstrap analysis. The model is then further validated in a second cohort. Three pre-specified protein markers (IL8, IL1B, and M2BP) are a secondary endpoint and will also be compared in cancer and control patients.