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 heavy smokers, tobacco chewers and heavy drinkers.

But Pinter never smoked, chewed tobacco, nor was a heavy drinker.

Celebrities who had oral cancer include Babe Ruth, Jack Klugman, Aaron Spelling, and George Harrison, as well as Eddie Van Halen, Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Paltrow, and Sammy Davis Jr.

Within the past 10 years, however, the percentage of women diagnosed with oral cancer rose from 10 to 50 percent.

Some doctors believe this is due to the human papilloma virus (HPV) — a sexually transmitted disease that can lie dormant in the body for decades, Pinter said.

This year, more than 34,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer; only half will be alive in five years.

It is the sixth most common cancer in the world, said Brian Hill, 60, a stage 4 oral cancer survivor and founder of The Oral Cancer Foundation, based in California.

At Yale-New Haven Hospital, Pinter underwent surgery where doctors “completely rebuilt my tongue,” she said.

After being in remission for a year, her cancer returned, and she needed further surgery to remove dozens of lymph nodes in her neck.

While Pinter is now cancer-free, she still suffers side effects from her illness, such as slurred words, a swollen and tired tongue, pain, tightness, and swelling. She also has a 6-inch scar on her neck.

“Mentally, this cancer is so different from others because as a person, you present your face to the world,” Pinter said. “It is not something you can ever forget about when the cancer is in your mouth.”

As she learned more about her illness, one question kept pressing on Pinter’s mind: Could she have been diagnosed with oral cancer earlier?

The answer, she discovered, was yes — through an oral cancer screening.

“At every routine dental visit, your dentist should be giving you an oral cancer screening. This involves looking inside your mouth for changes in color, tissue, and feeling inside the jaw line. It takes just five minutes and is completely painless,” she said.

If caught at stage 1, oral cancer is 85 to 90 percent curable, Hill said.

“From the moment she was diagnosed, Colleen has used her celebrity to become an advocate for oral cancer,” Hill said.

One way she did this was by having her soap opera character develop oral cancer.

She also appeared in a public service announcement, which was broadcast across the U.S..

“Colleen approached oral cancer the same way she approaches life. She was tough as nails and never complained,” Hill said. “She’s extremely grounded, and is able to deal with adversity and pain and make the best of each day.”

Said Pinter, “With the outpouring of love and support from my family and friends — who brought me food, flowers, made me laugh, and stayed with me during my illness — and from the entire Redding community, I was able to keep a positive attitude and get through this.”