Oral cancer is known for its high mortality rate in developing countries, but an international team of scientists hopes to change that.
''It was quite a special feeling that we've got something that could be useful,'' research study co-author Aniruddha Chatterjee said.
Dr Chatterjee is an Indian-born Rutherford Discovery Fellow at the University of Otago pathology department.
Researchers from Otago and the Indian Statistical Institute, in Kolkata, have discovered epigenetic markers that are different in oral cancer tissues compared with the adjacent healthy tissues in patients.
Epigenetics- non-genetic influences on gene expression- is a powerful mechanism capable of altering gene expression in cancer cells without changes to the DNA sequence, and can cause tumour progression.
This study was one of the first to ''identify epigenetic markers in oral cancer'', using cutting-edge approaches, he said.
For the study, published in the journal Epigenomics, the team recruited 16 oral cancer patients in India, taking samples of both tumour and normal adjacent tissue.
Using the samples, they discovered regions with altered epigenetic profiles in tumour cells compared with normal cells, and found some were
''significantly associated with poor prognosis of patients'', he said.
The findings could help save thousands of lives by identifying cancer cells early.
About 250 new cases of oral cancer occurred in New Zealand each year.
Lead author Dr Roshni Roy, of the ISI, said according to the 2019 report of India Against Cancer, of the 300,000 cases of tobacco-associated oral cancer detected globally, 86% were from India.
