OCF In The News

Early detection is the key to beating oral cancer

5/14/2007 Westchester, NY Linda Lombroso Gannett Co. Publishing It was nearly five years ago that Margaret Belair received chilling news: The sensitive spot on her tongue was far more than a pizza burn or a cold sore. It was oral cancer. Belair, who'd just given birth to a baby boy, was stunned. "It didn't look or feel hard,'' says the 41-year-old mother of two, who lives in Somers. "It was just a weird irritation of the tongue, just slightly discolored, and it felt like a big canker sore.'' Despite the shock of the diagnosis, Belair was fortunate. After an operation to cut out a portion of her tongue - and the precautionary removal of several lymph nodes in her neck - all she needed was eight weeks of speech therapy (to relearn how to pronounce certain sounds) and eight weeks of physical therapy (to build up the strength in her neck). For Brian Hill, the news was not as good. By the time his oral cancer was caught in 1997, it had metastasized to his lymph nodes. Nobody expected him to survive. Although the treatment was brutal - including radiation that destroyed his salivary glands and surgry which removed a portion of his neck - Hill ended up beating the odds. He has since founded the Oral Cancer Foundation, a national nonprofit research and advocacy organization, and has become an outspoken champion for early detection of the disease. One of the problems in catching oral cancer early, say experts, has [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T20:42:03-07:00May, 2007|OCF In The News|

Oral Cancer Foundation Builds Momentum in Public Screenings

9/1/2005 Los Angeles, CA April Karys US Newswire The Oral Cancer Foundation lit a fuse in Los Angeles recently that it hopes will set off a nationwide firecracker of prevention against a disease that, while potentially lethal, is highly survivable if caught in its early stages. “The big issue with oral cancer is that few people are aware of it, and doctors and dentists don't always screen for it,” says Harvey Pasternak, a consumer healthcare products consultant. Pasternak recently teamed with Oral Cancer Foundation founder Brian Hill bring to life Hill's idea of setting up free screenings for oral cancer in highest-risk communities. Brian Hill came to me with a premise. “You can go to a drug store and get screened for high cholesterol, or high blood pressure,” Hill said, “why not oral cancer detection as well? Why not set up a free oral cancer screening at a retailer, and see if we can engage the public in the same way.” Pasternak took the challenge and started inquiring with large Los Angeles retailers to secure a location for an initial proof of principle event. “I had three large companies interested in hosting the program, but didn't have any support to pay for what else is was needed-shipping for banners, advertising, dental equipment for the dentists who would do the screenings.” The Foundation reached an agreement with Wal-Mart to hold the screening at its new store in the Baldwin Hills. The Crenshaw District location was important: Oral cancer hits hard among [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T20:46:11-07:00September, 2005|OCF In The News|

Musicians Honor Dylan in Benefit for Oral Cancer Foundation

8/30/2005 April Karys US Newswire When Dan Roth's lifelong friend and fellow musician called with an idea to do a benefit music concert-and told Roth he could pick the cause-the decision came naturally: Roth, a two-time oral cancer survivor, chose oral cancer awareness. “It was kind of a no-brainer for me because of how much the Oral Cancer Foundation has helped me,” Roth said. “I use their Web site a whole lot.” Roth, 36, is a resident of Sea Cliff, Long Island. But he grew up about six miles away, in Williston Park, going to school and playing drums with his friend, guitarist Greg Schochet, now a professional musician in Boulder, Colorado. “We grew up playing music in the basement,” said Roth, a drummer. When the boys were in seventh grade, Schochet's father played the music of folk legend Bob Dylan for them. From then on, the boys were diehard Dylan fans. So it's no surprise that when Schochet decided years later to pull the musicians of Boulder together for a themed evening of music, it should be a tribute to Dylan, held on the famed musician's birthday. “I was out there for a visit about a year before that,” said Roth. “And one day we sat around playing Dylan songs for hours and hours. He said 'Next time you come out, let's play a gig.' Then he called up a few weeks later and said 'I have a better idea. Why don't we make it a benefit, and you [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T20:47:34-07:00August, 2005|OCF In The News|

The role of the dental professional

7/26/2005 Patti DeGrangi, RDH, BS RDH Magazine, September 2005 Humble beginnings often wind their way down unexpected paths toward unthink-able destinations. Ribbons we wear, rib-bons on our cars, and wristbands have become not only methods to bring aware-ness of various cancers and causes; they have become a fad of nearly epic proportions. Discovering the history of the ribbon craze is tricky, with different groups and individuals taking credit. Some give credit to the black armbands worn in Victorian times or the yellow ribbons from the Tony Orlando song. But whatever the origination, these symbols can bring attention, understanding, and most importantly, funding to organizations and individuals struggling with disease. For several years, oral cancer awareness and screening has had a part in each program I give, for some very specific and personal reasons. Using my skills and intuition as a dental hygienist, I saw a suspicious area on a client. The client denied it, saying she wasn’t a smoker. The lesion was on the palate. The client said it was from eating taco chips. There was something about it that just didn’t resonate for me. I had to talk her into allowing a brush biopsy. The biopsy came back showing atypical cells; the scalpel biopsy showed early squamous cell carcinoma. The client was my sister. The good news was that we found it so early that the very early scalpel biopsy has thus far, after six years, seemed to have removed everything and there has been no recurrence. CDx Labs [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T20:54:18-07:00July, 2005|OCF In The News|

Crest, Wal-Mart, Henry Schein, Inc., USC Team up with Oral Cancer Foundation for Free Public Oral Cancer Screening

6/14/2005 Los Angeles, CA U.S. Newswire Volunteer dentists from the USC School of Dentistry will offer free oral cancer screenings to the public on: From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 18 At Wal-Mart located at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 4101 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. Over 1500 people are expected to attend. In the first of what the Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF) anticipates becoming a national outreach opportunity, Crest, Wal- Mart, and Henry Schein Inc. have teamed up with the foundation to raise awareness and the early detection of oral cancer across America. Bernard Parks, Councilmember of District 8, is scheduled to appear for an oral cancer screening. Brian Hill, Founder and Executive Director of OCF stated, "Oral cancer is not widely known to the majority of Americans, however the death rate from this cancer is higher than that of many we routinely hear about, such as cervical, prostate, or skin cancer. When we have the opportunity to get out into public venues, we are able to not only screen people for the disease, but to educate them on the risk factors and signs and symptoms of it. The end result is that people can learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of the disease in its early stages, when it is most curable." Over 30,000 Americans are newly diagnosed with oral cancer annually. Of those, only half them will be alive in five years - that equates to a death rate of one person every hour [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:08:27-07:00June, 2005|OCF In The News|

Screenings Can Prevent Death From Oral Cancer

6/3/2005 By Ed Edelson Forbes Nearly 40,000 lives could be saved worldwide every year through early detection of oral cancer. That's the conclusion of a new study in which health-care workers carefully examined the mouths of approximately 170,000 people in India for signs of malignancy. While the oral health of Indians differs greatly from that of Americans -- most notably because many Indians chew a cancer-causing substance called pan-tobacco -- the study results "apply to people all over the world, including those in the United States," said Dr. Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan. Sankaranarayanan is head of screening for the French-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, and lead author of the study that appears in the June 3 issue of The Lancet. That assessment sounds reasonable, agreed Dr. Sol Silverman Jr., a professor of oral medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a spokesman for the American Dental Society. "The prevalence is higher in India than in the United States, but we do have 10 cases per 100,000 population. And even in the latest statistics, only 58 percent survive for more than five years, despite all the improvements in treatment," Silverman said. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 30,000 new cases of oral cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, with 8,000 deaths from the malignancy. The new study included nearly 170,000 residents from 13 population clusters in the Trivandrum district of Kerala, India. Residents of seven districts were given up to three rounds of screening by [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T20:58:11-07:00June, 2005|OCF In The News|

Oral Cancer Advocate Receives Prestigious Award from New York University

5/26/2005 New York, NY US Newswire Brian Hill, founder and executive director of the non-profit Oral Cancer Foundation has received the prestigious Strusser award from the New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry. The award was presented to him at the NYU graduation ceremonies at Madison Square Garden. This award is given annually, and recognizes an individual who has excelled in public service. In the audience, Eva Grayzel Cohen, an oral cancer survivor and an individual who has spoken on public service announcements for the American Dental Association related to oral cancer commented, "I was touched at the choice of Brian Hill, an oral cancer survivor, who has visible and audible repercussions from his treatments, to receive the Strusser award. Brian Hill's presence and honor was a powerful message to the graduating doctors, that it is imperative to give all patients an oral cancer screening, because the dental profession is the first line of discovery of this disease. Their active participation in the screening process, which results in early detection and treatment, can mean the difference of life or death to a patient. While his unscripted acceptance and comments to the audience were in his usual casual style, the message was serious. Choose to be involved, choose to make a difference". When asked about the presentation Hill commented, "Receiving an award like this from an institution the caliber of NYU, in a venue like the Garden, and having the opportunity to speak to this enormous crowd, is a once in [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:00:46-07:00May, 2005|OCF In The News|

My Dentist Saved My Life

5/10/2005 Dana Hudepohl Woman's Day Magazine The Oral Cancer Foundation and interviews with founder Brian Hill, and other OCF members figured heavily in an article on the early detection of oral cancer, and the need for public screenings to take place. When asked about the srtory, Hill stated " For a magazine with the national presence of Woman's Day to dedicate 3 full pages to telling this story, is a major step in increasing public awareness and literacy about this disease. The incidence of oral cancers in women has steadily increased over the last 15 years, and bringing the information related to risk factors and signs and symptoms directly to them in this manner is extremely important. The writer of the story and the magazine's editors have done a great job of exposing the facts without leaving out the important details. OCF has wroked hard to gain the cooperation of the dental community in providing opportunistic oral cancer screenings, and to finallly see the positive results of those efforts manifested in a story about a dentist who saves a life via early detection is very rewarding."

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:02:49-07:00May, 2005|OCF In The News|

Chesapeake, Va. Cancer Survivor Leads Benefit Walk to Focus Attention on Early Detection

3/30/2005 Chesapeake, VA U.S. Newswire Chesapeake, Va. resident Minnie Ashworth, who successfully battled oral cancer two years ago, wants fewer people to have to withstand the ordeal she survived. She has joined a national effort to reduce the death rate from the disease, which can be conquered if caught in its early stages. A Walk for Awareness will take place Saturday, April 9, at Chesapeake City Park in Chesapeake, Va. Proceeds will benefit the non-profit Oral Cancer Foundation - Web: http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org Event Includes Free, Fast, and Painless Oral Cancer Screenings During the fund-raising walk, doctors from the VCU School of Dentistry and from the Eastern Virginia Medical School will conduct free oral cancer screenings. These quick and painless examinations of the mouth, if conducted as part of everyone's annual dental exam, could dramatically reduce the number of deaths from oral cancer. 30,000 individuals are newly diagnosed with oral cancer each year in the US, and it kills almost 9,000 Americans annually. The five-year survival rate is only about 50 percent. Early detection would drastically reduce the death rate. It was a dentist who raised the alarm when Ashworth told him her gum still hadn't healed long after she'd had a tooth extracted. The dentist immediately referred Ashworth to an oral surgeon, whose biopsy revealed cancer. Ashworth underwent radiation to shrink the tumor, then surgery to remove half her lower jaw, which was reconstructed using bone from her lower leg. During her recovery, Ashworth discovered the Oral Cancer Foundation's web site, [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:05:13-07:00March, 2005|OCF In The News|

Dance Troupe Dedicates Show to benefit The Oral Cancer Foundation

11/23/2004 Norfolk, VA Warren Warsaw The Virginian-Pilot For 12 young dancers, with their glittered faces and glitzy costumes, Saturday's performance at the Jeanne & George Roper Performing Arts Center will be like any other. On the surface. For all their outward smiles and athletic routines, they will dance with heavy hearts for someone who's missing from the stage. Pappou. That's Greek for "grandfather" and that's the only name some of the dancers knew for Arthur Kotarides who died in August 2003 from oral cancer. Kotarides was the real father of Hero "Ro" Kotarides Barker, a 40-year-old Wards Corner resident who owns the 7Movements in Dance studio at 7930-C Chesapeake Blvd. But "Pappou" was the surrogate grandfather for many of the girls at the 7Movements in dance since the studio opened in 1995. The fun-loving prankster who attended every performance and competition built more than just the sets and props. He built relationships. So when Pappou died on a Saturday - a day before a dance competition -several of the girls panicked. "I didn't know what to say to anyone," said Kayla Lovett, a 14-year-old dancer from Bayview who knew Pappou since she was r. "I just performed and stayed away from everyone." When words faild to express their sorrow and love, these teens who knew Pappou since they were toddlers, turned to dance. And over the past year, the core group of 12 dancers known as the Smooth Movers Performing Company, has worked 6 to 12 hours a week choreographing [...]

Webmaster2008-07-09T21:07:50-07:00November, 2004|OCF In The News|