Blood test to detect head, neck cancer risk

REHOVOT, Israel, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A simple blood test may be able to identify those most at risk for developing head and neck cancer as a result of smoking, say Israeli researchers.

Zvi Livneh, head of the Weizmann Institute's biological chemistry department, Dr. Tamar Paz-Elizur of the same department, and their research team that worked in collaboration with Dr. Rami Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv-Sourasky Medical Center, Laurence Freedman of Sheba Medical Center and Edna Schechtman of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

In the study, which appeared in Cancer Research, the scientists asked whether a reduced individual ability -- non-inherited -- to repair DNA damage increases chances of getting head and neck cancer. Smoking damages DNA and is known to be a major cause of this disease, which can affect the throat, mouth and larynx.

The researchers focused on a DNA repair enzyme called OGG1, for which they had previously developed a blood test to measure activity levels.

By comparing OGG activity in healthy people with those in head and neck cancer patients, the research team found that the test was able to single out those with a heightened risk of this type of cancer -- weak levels were correlated with greater risk.