Morning gargle could be used some day as one way for people to find whether they have head and neck cancer, U.S. researchers said as quoted by media reports Thursday.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore tried to use mouth rinses that capture genetic signatures linked to cancer as a screening tools for heavy smokers and alcohol drinkers -- those at high risk for head and neck cancers.

Patients were asked to brush the inside of their mouths, then rinse and gargle with a salt solution. The scientists filtered out cells in the rinsed saliva that might contain one or more of 21 bits of chemically altered genes associated with head and neck cancers.

"The challenge is to predict which hypermethylated genes are most specific to cancer," lead investigator Dr. Joseph Califano of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions said in a statement.

Since every cancer process involves a unique genetic fingerprint, Califano predicts combining several gene signatures may identify a larger percentage of cancer patients than using single ones.

(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2008)