Predicting Oral Cancer
5/13/2001 Janet McConnaughey AP A simple genetic test can help doctors accurately predict whether people with common white patches inside their mouths are likely to develop deadly oral cancer. The technique developed at the University of Oslo could help physicians assess patients with the patches, called oral leukoplakia, so they can be treated early if cancer appears likely. "I think there is a message to physicians: Beware of white patches," said Dr. Jon Sudbo, whose study was published in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "There is a message to consumers and patients: Beware of white patches. And get them investigated." The key is the number of chromosomes in the cells that make up those patches. If it's the normal 46, cancer is unlikely. If the number is doubled, cancer is more likely. And it becomes very likely if the number cannot be divided evenly by 23, the number of chromosomes received from each parent. More than 300,000 people around the world, including about 30,000 in the United States, are diagnosed each year with oral cancer, making it the nation's No. 11 cancer and the ninth most common worldwide. More than half of those people die within five years, largely because the cancers are hard to diagnose early. The death rate hasn't changed in more than 20 years. Because there is no way to know which white patches will develop into cancer, doctors often remove them as a precaution. But there is also no good way to [...]