Patent ID: 7390628

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence of a marker associated with oral cancer on an oral cavity mucosal surface wherein said method comprises: a) contacting the oral cavity of a patient with a composition, wherein the composition comprises at least one set of microparticles and a carrier, wherein the microparticles comprises a specie that is capable of adhering to the oral cavity mucosal surface marker; and b) determining whether any microparticles have adhered to the surface marker, wherein adherence of the microparticles to the surface indicates the presence of the marker, wherein the determining step comprises either or both of the following: i) recovering the composition from the surface and determining whether the contacting of the composition with the surface reduced the concentration of microparticles in the composition; and ii) dislodging any microparticles that adhere to the surface with a second composition, and analyzing the second composition to determine if any microparticles are present, wherein the presence of microparticles indicates the presence of the marker; wherein the specie is selected from the group consisting of folic acid, folate, and a folate conjugate; and wherein the carrier is a neutral mouthwash aqueous solution.