About Oral Cancer

THE DEADLY STATISTICS

Every hour of every day, one American dies of oral cancer.

More American die from oral cancer than cervical caner.



Everyone is at risk, including YOU !  


 An annual VELscope exam is performed immediately following a regular visual examination may SAVE your life

 

Click here for video on a Eva's real story

Eva is 31 years old, housewife with no history of smoking and drinking alcohol.


Oral cancer cellular changes are often non-detectable to the human eye (even with magnification eyewear) under standard lighting conditions.  Often, when the lesion becomes visible, it has advanced to invasive stages. The high mortality rate is directly related to the lack of early detection of potentially malignant lesions. 

 

Yet oral cancer is one of the most curable diseases when it's caught early.  Here in Newport Healthy Smiles, Drs. Ling and Wong offer the very latest FDA approved technology with VELscope screening.  This is an optional service offered by Newport Healthy Smiles where the VELscope technology is able to visualize and offer early detection of oral cancers prior to being visible to the naked eye.  To learn more about VELscope click here.

 
Oral Cancer Risk by Patient Profile

Increased Risk:

  • Patients age 18-39 with no lifestyle risk factors - but sexually active (HPV 16/18)

High Risk:

  • Patients age 40 and older with no lifestyle risk factors
  • OR Patients age 18-39 with lifestyle risk factors

Highest Risk:

  •  Patients age 40 and older with lifestyle risk factors or patients with a history of oral cancer

Risk Factors:

  • Lifestyle risk factors for oral cancer include: Tobacco use (any type, any age, within 10 years)
  • Alcohol consumption of at least 1 drink per day (3 ounces of hard liquor, 4 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer)

Other risk factors:

  • Immune deficiencies such as HIV & AIDS
  • Human Papilloma Virus (HPV 16/18)

Famous Victims

Oral cancer has touched the lives of many people; however some of the better known oral cancer victims may surprise you.

  1. Babe Ruth
  2. Sigmund Freud
  3. Jack Klugman
  4. Aaron Spelling
  5. Alan King
  6. Humphrey Bogart  
  7. Lana Turner
  8. Eddie Van Halen
  9. Rod Stewart
  10. Bill Blass
  11. Burl Ives
  12. Sammy Davis, Jr.
  13. John Prine
  14. Jim Thorpe
  15. Mary Wells
  16. George Harrison

ADA/OralCDx Campaign 

The ADA, in collaboration with OralCDx Laboratories,  is embarking on a three-year nationwide public service campaign to boost public awareness of oral cancer and spotlight the dentist’s role in helping to stop this disease years before it can even start. Further information on this campaign was made available to the press and public during a Satellite Media Tour held on November 6, 2007. 



The Importance of Early Detection

Your dentist has recent good news about progress against cancer. It is now easier than ever to detect oral cancer early, when the opportunity for a cure is great. Only half of all patients diagnosed with oral cancer survive more than five years.

Your dentist has the skills and tools to ensure that early signs of cancer and pre-cancerous conditions are identified. You and your dentist can fight and win the battle against oral cancer. Know the early signs and see your dentist regularly.




You Should Know
  • Oral Cancer often starts as a tiny, unnoticed white or red spot or sore anywhere in the mouth.
  • It can affect any area of the oral cavity including the lips, gum tissue, check lining, tongue and the hard or soft palate.
  • Other signs include:
    • A sore that bleeds easily or does not heal
    • A color change of the oral tissues
    • A lump, thickening, rough spot, crust or small eroded area
    • Pain, tenderness, or numbness anywhere in the mouth or on the lips
    • Difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking or moving the jaw or tongue.
    • A change in the way the teeth fit together
  • Oral Cancer most often occurs in those who use tobacco in any form.
  • Alcohol use combined with smoking greatly increases risk.
  • Prolonged exposure to the sun increases the risk of lip cancer.
  • More than 25% of oral cancers occur in people who do not smoke and have no other risk factors.
  • Oral Cancer is more likely to strike after age 40.
  • Studies suggest that a diet high in fruits and vegetables may prevent the development of potentially cancerous lesions.




Regular Dental Check-ups Important

Oral cancer screening is a routine part of a dental examination. Regular check-ups, including an examination of the entire mouth, are essential in the early detection of cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions. You may have a very small, but dangerous, oral spot or sore and not be aware of it.

Your dentist will carefully examine the inside of your mouth and tongue and in some patients may notice a flat, painless, white or red spot or a small sore. Although most of these are harmless, some are not. Harmful oral spots or sores often look identical to those that are harmless, but testing can tell them apart. If you have a sore with a likely cause, your dentist may treat it and ask you to return for re-examination.

Dentists often will notice a spot or sore that looks harmless and does not have a clear cause. To ensure that a spot or sore is not dangerous, your dentist may choose to perform a simple test, such as a brush test. As powerful as a pap smear, which detects abnormal cells in women, a brush test collects cells from a suspicious lesion in the mouth. The cells are sent to a laboratory for analysis. If precancerous cells are found, the lesion can be surgically removed if necessary during a separate procedure. It’s important to know that all atypical and positive results from a brush test must be confirmed by incisional biopsy and histology.




Facts About Oral Cancer

Incidence and Mortality

  • Most people are surprised to learn that one American dies every hour from oral cancer; a death rate that has remained virtually unchanged for more than 40 years. In fact, recent statistics published by the American Cancer Society indicate that while the incidence and death rates for cancers overall has decreased, the incidence of oral cancer has increased by 5.5% and the death rate has increased by 1.5%.

     

    Oral cancer strikes an estimated 34,360 Americans each year.  An estimated 7,550 people (5,180 men and 2,370 women) will die of these cancers in 2007.1

     

  • More than 25% of the 30,000 Americans who get oral cancer will die of the disease.2
  • Oral cancer is as common as leukemia and claims more lives that either melanoma or cervical cancer.3
  • On average, only half of those diagnosed with the disease will survive more than five years.4

  • Oral cancer is far too often discovered in late stage development, the primary reason for the consistently high death rate. Oral cancer treatment often results in disfiguring effects on patients, and can seriously compromise their quality of life. Early detection and diagnosis can make a tremendous difference in life expectancy; oral cancer is 90% curable when found in its early stages.

     

    More than 30,000 Americans will receive an oral cancer diagnosis this year.  Unfortunately, 70% of oral cancers are diagnosed in the late stages, III and IV, leading to a five-year survival rate of 57%.


    The mortality rate associated with oral cancer has not improved significantly in the last 40 years.
    The death rate in the United States for oral cancer is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin's disease, cancer of the brain, liver, testes, kidney, or ovary.


    African-Americans are especially vulnerable; the incidence rate is 1/3 higher than whites and the mortality rate is almost twice as high.5

Risk Factors

  • Although the use of tobacco and alcohol are risk factors in developing oral cancer, approximately 25% of oral cancer patients have no known risk factors.6, 7

  •  There has been a nearly five-fold increase in incidence in oral cancer patients under age 40, many with no known risk factors.8, 9, 10, 11Recently however 27% of all newly diagnosed cases have been in patients under the age of forty with none of the known risk factors.

  • The incidence of oral cancer in women has increased significantly, largely due to an increase in women smoking. In 1950 the male to female ratio was 6:1; by 2002, it was 2:1.

Prevention and Detection

  • The best way to prevent oral cancer is to avoid tobacco and alcohol use.
  • Regular dental check-ups, including an examination of the entire mouth, are essential in the early detection of cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions.
  • Many types of abnormal cells can develop in the oral cavity in the form of red or white spots.  Some are harmless and benign, some are cancerous and others are pre-cancerous, meaning they can develop into cancer if not detected early and removed. (American Cancer Society)
  • Finding and removing epithelial dysplasias before they become cancer can be one of the most effective methods for reducing the incidence and mortality of cancer.
  • Knowing the risk factors and seeing your dentist for oral cancer screenings can help prevent this deadly disease. Routine use of the Pap smear since 1955, for example, dramatically reduced the incidence and mortality rates for cervical cancer in the United States.12  Similarly, use of colonoscopy now makes it possible to detect dysplastic polyps years before they can turn into colon cancer and is contributing to falling rates of mortality for the disease.13
  • Oral cancer is often preceded by the presence of clinically identifiable premalignant changes. These lesions may present as either white or red patches or spots. Identifying white and red spots that show dysplasia and removing them before they become cancer is an effective method for reducing the incidence and mortality of cancer.

     

    Facts about smoking

    • Smoking causes 440,000 Deaths per year in the US - which is 1205 deaths per day

    • Smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ of the body
    • On average, men who smoke cut their lives short by 13.2 years, and female smokers lose 14.5 years.
    • Smoking 20 cigarettes a day allowing for inflation, costs $100,000
    • Smokers in their 30s to 40s have five times the amount of heart attacks as non-smokers of the same age.
    • Two thirds of all smokers want to give it up but can't.  One half of all smokers will die prematurely.

     

     

     

    References
  1. American Cancer Society.
  2. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, website 2007.
  3. American Cancer Society web page.
  4. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, website 2007.
  5. American Cancer Society, Facts and Figures for African-Americans.
  6. Schantz SP, Yu GP. Head and neck cancer incidence trends in young Americans, 1973-1997, with a special analysis for tongue cancer. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Mar 2002;128(3):268-274.
  7. Lingen M, Sturgis EM, Kies MS. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in nonsmokers: clinical and biologic characteristics and implications for management. Curr Opin Oncol. May 2001;13(3):176-182.
  8. Shiboski CH, Shiboski SC, Silverman S, Jr. Trends in oral cancer rates in the United States, 1973-1996. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. Aug 2000;28(4):249-25.
  9. Llewellyn CD, Johnson NW, Warnakulasuriya KA. Risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity in young people–a comprehensive literature review. Oral Oncol. Jul 2001;37(5):401-418.
  10. Corcoran TP, Whiston DA. Oral cancer in young adults. J Am Dent Assoc. Jun 2000;131(6):726.
  11. Dahlstrom, K. R et al. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in never smoker-never drinkers: A descriptive epidemiologic study. Head Neck 2007.
  12. American Cancer Society (“In the United States, the cervical cancer death rate declined by 74% between 1955 and 1992, in large part due to the effectiveness of Pap smear screening.”) web facts.
  13. Neville BW and Day TA. Oral cancer and precancerous lesions. CA Cancer J Clin 2002; 52:195-215.



VELscope is part of our comprehensive oral cancer screening

We are one of the 25 private dental offices in Southern CA offer this VELscope service