• 4/19/2005
  • Scotland, United Kingdom
  • Scotland Today

Cancer specialists say not enough people know about mouth cancer, even though the west of Scotland has the highest incidence of the disease in the UK. TV adverts will be back on our screens tonight to remind people of the tell-tale signs.

Every year more than 500 Scots find out that they have mouth cancer. The west of Scotland has a much higher incidence rate than anywhere else in the UK and unfortunately the figures are rising. That is why a television advert which is designed to raise awareness of the disease and it’s symptoms is being relaunched this week.

Jim Baillie says that watching that very ad last November may well have saved his life. He said: “It related to me, the little tongue, I had the symptoms and I thought “I don’t like the looks of this”. The chaps that did that ad, I mean I owe them everything.”

Consultant surgeon John Devine said: “If a mouth cancer is picked up at an early stage the treatment is actually very straightforward and very quickly the patient can get back to a near normal quality of life.”

He added: “The main symptoms are an ulcer that hasn’t healed up after three to four weeks but there are some other signs and symptoms like white patches in the mouth, red patches, sometimes if teeth become loose for no explained reason and the message from us is if in any doubt at all get along to your dentist or your doctor and get it checked out.”

The last campaign proved to be quite a success and those behind it say that there was a significant increase in the number of cancers detected early as a result. They are hoping for a similar result this time round.