How a lollipop can help to spot the early signs of mouth cancer

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.

Read more of the original article from DailyMail

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