Cancer-detecting CHEWING GUM to replace blood tests: New product absorbs compounds released by tumors into the saliva

Chewing gum freshens your breath – and in this case it could save your life.

A biotech company has developed gum that could determine whether or not you have cancer.

The gum absorbs what are called ‘volatiles’ in a person’s saliva as they chew it – chemical compounds which are released by certain forms of cancer.

After it has been chewed for 15 minutes, the product is then analyzed to determine whether or not it contains these specific chemicals.

So far, scientists at the Alabama-based firm Volatile Analysis have developed different types of gum can detect pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer.

Researchers tell Daily Mail Online that, if successful, it could mean the end of blood tests, urine samples and biopsies.

Chemicals produced in the body, called volatile organic compounds, are unique to each type of cancer.

For example, a healthy lung and a lung infected with cancer exhale different compounds.

Katherine Bazemore, president and CEO of Volatile Analysis, teamed up with non-profit Hudson Alpha to develop the product.

Speaking to Daily Mail Online, she explained that by determining which of those compounds are found in the gum, doctors can tell which type of cancer is present in the patient.

‘Technically, the gum concentrates the volatiles,’ she said.

‘Each disease has different chemicals that come out through your breath.’

Bazemore explained that gum remains in your mouth over an extended period of time and is durable enough to withstand testing.

Patients would only have to chew the gum for about 15 minutes. Right now, different types of gum can detect pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer.

Bazemore is hopeful that they will soon have a singular product that will detect three or four different cancers and diseases.

With use of the gum, patients would no longer need to go through blood tests or biopsies.

According to the National Cancer Institute, there were an estimated 1.5 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2016 in the US.

And while Americans’ survival rates are increasing for the most common forms of cancer, early detection is still critical for healthcare providers.

‘Over the last 15 years there have been a lot of attempts with different products and processes for early detection of cancer,’ Dr Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, told Fox News.

Scientists have looked at breath samples, urine samples and even dogs that might be able to smell cancer.

This month, researchers at Indiana University released a report stating that they had created a urine test devised to mimic the ability of dogs to diagnose prostate cancer with their noses.

Labradors and spaniels can be trained to sniff out 97 percent of cases. They sit up straight if a patient has the deadly disease and walk away if they are clear.

Their machine records the molecules that a dog’s delicate nose picks up in a urine sample, 90 percent of which are present in men with prostate cancer.

But according to Dr Lichetenfeld, ‘none of these efforts are proven to detect cancer early’.

The gum is still in the testing stage so it may be too early to determine how well it will work.

However, the company hopes to make the gum available to doctors and patients sometime next year and expects that it will also be able to detect different diseases such as tuberculosis.

Bazemore says they’re currently working on the flavors of the gum.

‘Volatiles are also responsible for flavor and aroma,’ she said.

‘We expect to infuse flavor so that of course patients like the gum. But flavor means more compounds so we want to limit what interacts with the compounds that the gum will be trapping.’