Public Lacks Important Knowledge about Oral, Head and Neck Cancer
8/30/2004 Washington, DC News release from AHNS American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) Most adult Americans know how to light a cigarette and order a drink, but a great number of them are clueless about the consequence of these two destructive habits – oral and head and neck cancer. Oral and head and neck cancer (OHNC) is the term used for the group of cancers found in head and neck region, including the oral cavity (mouth, floor of mouth, lips, teeth, gums, lining of lips and cheeks), oropharynx (the back one-third of the tongue), the nasopharynx (area behind the nose), hypopharynx (lower part of the throat), and larynx (voice box). It is estimated that nearly 40,000 new cases of oral, head, and neck cancer were diagnosed in 2003; approximately 85 percent of them attributable to tobacco use and heavy alcohol consumption. The five year survival rate for OHNC is only 56 percent, a rate that has remained unchanged over several decades. Considering that most adults who smoke today started using tobacco before the age of 18 and adolescent tobacco users are three times more likely to drink alcohol than non-tobacco users, the Federal Government has included improved survival and early detection of oral and head and neck cancer as two of the nation’s health objectives. Experts believe that increased efforts to educate the public about OHNC will lead to early detection and treatment of these cancers, increasing survival. The current study endeavors to document the public’s belief about OHNC in [...]