I've never heard of using a mouth swab as a cancer detection test, ever... And I seriously doubt that's possible, although it may be someday. What they possibly CAN detect are genetic markers that can indicate potential risk, but it doesn't make much sense to me for those tests to be done on an elderly person (unless it's part of legitimate medical research, in which case that should be made very clear to the person giving the sample).
Have any of you ever had a doctor recommend a mouth swab for a cancer screening exam? I seriously doubt it, but would love to hear about it, if true. I haven't, and I've been through my share of screenings.
BTW, a caution about taking these popular Ancestry-type DNA tests, which do use a swab... I'm no expert on these, but from what I understand, the security of the info obtained (which could cover a whole lot more than your ancestry) leaves much to be desired. I'm not sure if we're beyond the point yet where certain results could prevent someone from being able to get health insurance, but if not, it's a potential concern. And who knows what other information they'll someday be able to learn about us (or incorrectly assume) from that data in the future. [On the upside(?), a long-wanted serial killer was identified in CA last year with help from a DNA test by a relative...  ]
In the meantime, count me out for these types of requests.
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