Oral Cancer, Early Screening, Diagnosis, And Treatment Planning Saves Lives.

March 24, 2009 - PRLog -- Every hour of every day in America someone dies of Oral Cancer. Oral Cancer is the sixth most common diagnosed form of cancer in the United States. Presently 30,000 patients are diagnosed annually with oral cancer. The 5-year survival rate is only 50%, accounting for 8,000 deaths each year. Oral Cancer risk factors include tobacco use, frequent and/or excessive alcohol consumption, a compromised immune system, past history of cancer, or family history of oral cancer. Recently, however, 25% of all newly diagnosed cases have been in patients under the age of forty with none of these. Oral Cancer is one of the few cancers whose survival rate has not improved in the past 50 years. This is due primarily to the fact that during this time we have not changed the way we screen for this disease (a visual and manual examination of the oral cavity, head, and neck).

There have been some new advances in oral cancer screening including the use of the VELscope® Examination System.  This new oral cancer screening allows your Doctor or other Healthcare provider to shine a bright light in the mouth for early detection of oral cancer.  The cancerous tissue does not reflect light like healthy tissue so your doctor can better differentiate between healthy and cancerous tissue.  This system is painless and takes less than 5 minutes to complete.  “We are hoping to reduce the number of deaths related to oral cancer.  If we can catch it early we can save lives.” Says Dr. Joshua Howard who is currently using the VELscope® system in his office.   You can contact Dr. Howard in Dover, NH at 603-749-0636 for more information regarding this new oral cancer screening.

We can make a difference in the oral cancer mortality rate.