Chewing Gum That Can Detect Cancer in Development

Finally, candy that’s good for you: an Alabama-based company is developing a chewing gum that can help detect cancer.

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According to the president and CEO of the company, Volatile Analysis, the gum works by absorbing chemicals in the body called volatile organic compounds. Those compounds are unique to each type of cancer and by testing the gum, doctors can tell which type of cancer a patient has (and skip blood and urine tests).

The gum is still in development but the company is hoping to get the gum out to doctors and patients early next year.

So far there’s been a word of caution from the deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, who said: “Over the last 15 years, there have been a lot of attempts with different products and processes for early detection of cancer. None of these efforts are proven to detect cancer early.”

Still, gum that can detect cancer sounds like an amazing breakthrough in helping doctors diagnose such a challenging illness. The peeps we’ve been snacking on all day can’t do that.