London first: 'magic' wand that can spot mouth cancer

Patients in London are being offered mouth cancer screening using a "magic" wand for the first time.

The London Day Care Surgery says the revolutionary test could help save thousands of lives.

Doctors will screen patients using the light wand, which can detect abnormalities invisible to the naked eye, such as lesions in skin tissue. A blue dye that marks out lesions is given to patients before they have the test. The light from the ViziLite Plus wand then makes problem areas glow blue or white.

Malcolm Torz, director of the clinic in Barnet, said mouth cancer could be hard to detect in the early stages and the pain-free test could improve the chances of survival dramatically. He added: "Every dentist should be doing visual screening for cancer on their patients as routine."

Mouth cancer kills one person every three hours and is one of the fastest growing cancers in Britain. Binge drinking, smoking and a family history of cancer are all to blame. The disease is 90 per cent curable if found early but nearly 75 per cent of cases are not diagnosed until it is advanced.