Early detection is the key
Source: Newstime.com Author: Sandra Diamond Fox Standing before nearly 500 graduates of New York University's School of Dentistry at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan last month, two-time Emmy Award nominee Colleen Zenk Pinter stepped forward to accept the Dr. Harry Strusser Memorial Award for public service. While Pinter, 56, was accustomed to being on stage -- for more than 30 years she played the character of Barbara Ryan on CBS' "As The World Turns" -- speaking at NYU's graduation held very special meaning for her. She was being honored for her work in bringing awareness to oral cancer. Little more than two years ago, the Redding resident for 23 years and mother of six received the news that would change her life -- she was diagnosed with stage 2 squamous cell carcinoma of the ventral tongue. Oral cancer. Pinter's nightmare began in 2005 when she noticed a change in her speech. After an examination, her dentist said it was the result of her teeth shifting, which can sometimes occur after age 50. The following summer, when she developed a painful cold sore under her tongue, an oral surgeon eventually diagnosed it as a bacterial and fungal infection. Once the infection was treated, however, a tumor was discovered underneath it. Pinter started researching oral cancer. "I was in shock," she said. "I didn't fit the profile of people who had this type of cancer." Up until recently, oral cancer was often referred to as "the old man's cancer," and was mostly contracted by [...]