Table 4.
Cancer biomarkers currently evaluated by saliva-based liquid biopsy.
| Biomarker | Cancer Type | Study Characteristics | Study Results | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mRNA (saliva) and blood CTCs | NSCLC | Discovery phase: NSCLC patients (n = 140) and healthy controls (n = 140). Validation phase: NSCLC patients (n = 60) and healthy controls (n = 60). |
Panel of CTC level in blood and mRNA markers in saliva (CCNI, EGFR, FGF19, FRS2, GREB1): discrimination of NSCLC from healthy controls. | [15] |
| mRNA (saliva) and CEA (blood) | NSCLC | Discovery phase: NSCLC patients (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 30). Prediction performance evaluation: NSCLC patients (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 25). |
Panel measuring CEA in blood and GREB1 and FRS2 levels in saliva could be used for the detection of NSCLC. | [170] |
| miRNAs (saliva) | CRC | Discovery phase (healthy controls n = 10 and CRC patients n = 14) and validation phase (healthy controls n = 37, CRC patients n = 51, and adenoma n = 19) | Panel of saliva-based miRNAs (miR-186-5p, miR-29a-3p, miR-29c-3p, miR-766-3p, and miR-491-5p) higher in CRC vs. control → detection of CRC. | [11] |
| miRNAs (salivary exosomes) | Pancreatobiliary tract cancer | Pancreatobiliary tract cancer (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 13) | Relative expression ratios of miR-1246 and miR-4644 significantly higher in cancer group vs. control. The potential of miR-1246 and miR-4644 in salivary exosomes as candidate biomarkers. |
[173] |
| Proteins (salivary exosomes) | Lung cancer | Lung cancer patients and normal subjects | The potential use of informative proteins in salivary EVs for detection of lung cancer. | [174] |
| Salivary exosomes | Isolation of salivary exosomes by the acoustofluidic (the fusion of acoustics and microfluidics) platform → potential in the detection of HPV-OPC. | [176] | ||
| ctDNA containing EGFR mutations (saliva, plasma) | Electric field-induced release and measurement → novel platform detecting ctDNA containing EGFR mutations directly from plasma and saliva in early- and late-stage NSCLC. | [177] | ||
Abbreviations: CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; CRC, colorectal carcinoma; CTCs, circulating tumor cells; HPV-OPC, HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer; NSCLS, non-small cell lung cancer.