- In April 2025, researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in the U.K. announced the results of a major clinical trial demonstrating that a new at-home saliva-based genetic test significantly outperforms the traditional PSA blood test in detecting aggressive prostate cancers. The test, based on a polygenic risk score using 130 genetic variants, was shown to improve early cancer detection while reducing false positives. This advancement is expected to save the NHS over £500 million annually by enabling earlier and more accurate diagnoses
- In May 2024, Israeli biotech company Salignostics partnered with Sheba Medical Center to develop the first rapid saliva-based diagnostic test for early detection of oral cavity cancer. The collaboration focuses on leveraging molecular biomarkers in saliva to identify early-stage tumors, enabling quicker and less invasive screening procedures. This development underscores the expanding applications of saliva diagnostics across multiple cancer types
- In February 2024, a team of biomedical engineers developed a low-cost saliva biosensor capable of detecting breast cancer biomarkers such as HER2 and CA 15‑3 in under 5 seconds. Designed for use in low-resource settings, this portable diagnostic tool supports early-stage detection without the need for blood draws or laboratory processing, making it particularly promising for widespread population screening.
