Detection of gastrointestinal cancers using salivary biomarkers – a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction and aim. Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are highly prevalent worldwide, with usually symptomless presentations making diagnosis at an early stage challenging. At the same time, salivary biomarkers are a promising method of early diagnosis in different malignancies. To this end, the present systematic review was carried out to investigate if salivary biomarkers can help with the early detection of gastrointestinal cancer and ascertain their diagnostic value. Material and methods. Major electronic databases were searched using a combination of keywords and Boolean operators to retrieve all existing literature on the topic from April 2024 until inception. Clinical studies with relevant information were included in the quantitative synthesis. Analysis of the literature. A total of 48 studies exploring the use of potential salivary biomarkers in esophageal, gastric, colorectal, pancreatic, hepatocellular and biomarkers were included in the present review. All studies retrieved statistically significant correlations between the presence of certain markers in the saliva and development of gastrointestinal cancers. Conclusion. Salivary biomarkers can help detect different gastrointestinal cancers. However, more studies are required to determine their diagnostic value. The use of artificial intelligence might help clinicians in exploiting these biomarkers.