ABSTRACT: Lung cancer remains a significant global health challenge, particularly in marginalized areas where access to early diagnostic tools is limited. The present study examined the potential of salivary proteomics as a non-invasive, cost-effective method for early lung cancer detection. Saliva samples were collected from 15 lung cancer patients and 15 matched healthy controls from the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, India. Using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), a total of 2,784 proteins were identified, with 290 showing statistically significant differences in expression between the cancer and control groups. Among these, seven proteins (TUBB3, PTBP3, ESYT1, Rab27B, RUVBL1, Pyruvate Carboxylase, and CDK5RAP2) were uniquely expressed in cancer samples, suggesting their potential as specific biomarkers. Several proteins, including Kallikrein-7 (KLK7), Bleomycin Hydrolase (BLMH), HMGN5, GLUD1, and GLUL, were significantly upregulated in the saliva of lung cancer patients, indicating their role in tumor growth, chemoresistance and altered metabolism. Statistical analyses such as heatmap clustering, PCA, and volcano plots, confirmed distinct proteomic signatures between the cancer and control groups. These findings support the potential of salivary proteomics as a cost-effective and non-invasive tool for early lung cancer detection.