2025 Report to the Community - Flipbook - Page 27
Illuminating oral cancer markers
Some 10 million people in the U.S. have oral
premalignant disease: a group of diseases that
show up as red patches, white patches or rough
patches in the mouth and that might – or might not
– develop into cancer.
Perhaps 7% to 10% of these cases will develop
into cancer. But pre-treating everyone who has
premalignant disease hasn’t been shown to work.
So for dentists and doctors who are monitoring
these patients, the question is: Who is most likely
to develop cancer and, therefore, would actually
benefit from more intervention?
Dauren Adilbay, M.D., Ph.D., is trying to address
this question through a new research project
funded by MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.
Adilbay is a head and neck cancer surgeon with a
Report to the Community 2025
specialized focus on microvascular reconstruction
and thyroid surgery. He also conducts research and
has done work using fluorescing compounds to
illuminate problem areas, cancer and nerves.
His new project seeks to attach fluorescing dye
to proteins that have already been identified as
biomarkers of oral cancer and then see how these
dyes show up in human tissue.
Eventually, if the idea works, a dentist could give
the dye, either as an injection or an oral swish, to a
patient with leukoplakia or other oral premalignant
disease, then use a special camera to see if the dye
had accumulated in a specific spot. That would
indicate that that area has a high potential to
turn into cancer and warrants a more aggressive
treatment regimen.
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