OC and OPC Cancer Screening

No screening test exists to detect oropharyngeal cancer (OPC), a type of head and neck cancer thought to be caused primarily by the human papillomavirus.

This screening technology, developed at Emory, combines mass spectrometry and artificial intelligence to analyze patient saliva samples to detect OPCs. The saliva samples could be collected at annual physicals or routine dental checkups and sent for testing.

The next phase of development involves testing real samples to confirm the system’s ability to detect these cancers.