Oral cancer: How discovery devices assist screenings

Source: www.dentistryiq.com Author: Nick Efthimiadis, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, LED Dental Inc. As the intense media attention surrounding Michael Douglas’s illness clearly demonstrated, oral cancer is increasingly in the news these days. With the unfortunate growth in the number of relatively young people contracting the disease due to exposure to the sexually-transmitted human papilla virus — specifically, the HPV-16 strain — oral cancer will only become a bigger concern for both patients and dental practices over time. In fact, the Oral Cancer Foundation recently announced that HPV-16 has now replaced tobacco as the leading cause of this disease. Sadly, one North American dies every hour of every day from oral cancer, and many of those who survive the disease are forced to deal with lengthy, painful treatment and permanent disfigurement. The main problem is that oral cancer is typically discovered in late stages, when the five-year survival rate is only around 30%. The good news: when discovered early, the survival rate leaps to 80%-to-90%. The key to early discovery is the dental practice. Ideally, each and every practice should be conducting a two-step oral cancer screening on all adult patients as part of their annual or semi-annual hygiene checkup. The first step consists of a conventional “white light” exam comprising visual inspection and palpation. The second step consists of examination with an adjunctive screening device. Fortunately, the two steps should take no more than five minutes combined. For the past several years, the adjunctive device that has [...]

UC Davis probes into oral cancer

Source: theaggie.org Author: Eric C. Lipsky UC Davis is searching for new and more effective methods to deal with oral cancer. Researchers have begun using a fluorescent oral probe to aid in the detection of malignant tissues. The probe allows doctors to differentiate between healthy and malignant tissue, along with having the capacity of working as a screening device. Although still a prototype, the fluorescent probe is showing that it can be helpful to doctors both prior to and during surgery. "The big picture is to improve the ability to diagnose tumors at an earlier stage," said Dr. Gregory Farwell, a head and neck surgeon at the UC Davis Medical Center. Farwell said that people's ability to survive oral cancer is significantly increased if the cancer is detected at an early stage. He said that oral cancer is primarily caused by smoking, drinking and human papillomavirus (HPV). Farwell said oral cancer through HPV usually takes 10 to 20 years to develop. 43,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cancer each year. While the cancer is not the most prevalent in the United States, Farwell said it is a major problem worldwide, especially in countries like India and China. He said this probe could be of great utility for efficiently diagnosing different stages of cancer. "It is a very effective way to discriminate between normal tissue and tumor tissue," Farwell said. "We're showing better results in distinguishing differences in tissue. It can even help discriminate between pre-cancer and advanced cancer." The probe, [...]

Go to Top