Cancer cure through saliva?

CHENNAI: Clinical trials are on across the world to find cures for various types of cancer through saliva, said Maria Fidela de Lima Navarro, a member of the International Association for Dental Research. Speaking to Express on the sidelines of Indian Society for Dental Research’s 23rd National Conference at the Chettinad Health City on Saturday, she said researchers had found biomarkers and protein signatures to detect cancer at an early stage.

She said that clinical trials were currently taking place across the world and a cure would be found for not only oral cancer but also cancers in stomach and other parts of the body. The industry and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) were working together to develop an apparatus in this regard, she added.

She also said recently a correlation was  found to link gum diseases with heart diseases. “Earlier, we were looking at the problems of heart and gum separately but now we have scientific evidence to link gum diseases with the heart,” she said.

Lt Governor of Pondicherry Iqbal Singh, while speaking at the inauguration  of the three-day forum, highlighted the prevalence of gum and heart diseases in Indian population.

He stressed on the need for further research in the field and added that scientific studies showed that gum diseases in pregnant women would have an adverse effect on the health of the baby. Singh said stem cell research was being conducted to isolate cells from the teeth to treat complex problems ranging from heart diseases to neurological problems like Alzheimer’s and treating burns besides correcting birth defects.

“India has over 260 dental colleges, workforce of more than 11,000 teaching faculty and an intake of more than 1,800 post graduate students per year. It has great potential to contribute to dental research and increase its share in dental research publications significantly,” he said.

Prominent among those oresent on the occasion were Prof TR Gururaja Rao, president of Indian Society for Dental Research, SM Balaji, secretary general of ISDR and P Rajesh, organising chairman and principal of Chettinad Dental College and Research Institute, Chennai.