A lollipop that absorbs tumour-related proteins from saliva could reduce the time it takes to diagnose mouth cancer.
When the fruit-flavoured sweet, which is being developed by scientists at Birmingham University, is sucked for just a few minutes, the proteins — released by mouth cancer cells as they grow and spread — become ‘stuck’ in its special gel coating.
The gel is then blasted with ultra-violet light (which breaks it down to a runny liquid), to release its cargo, allowing doctors to spot if there is a tumour in minutes.