• 5/8/2007
  • Miami, FL
  • Carolynn Susman
  • MiamiHerald.com

Peter Billias says he is dying of oral cancer, the kind that eats away the insides of your mouth, and the kind that may have been preventable. Or at least treatable, giving him a chance at survival, if it had been diagnosed earlier.

At 50, he recognizes the heavy smoking and drinking he has done all his life are undoubtedly responsible. So, even though his prognosis isn’t good, the Lake Worth man gave up the cigarettes and booze and has been clean and sober, he says, for five of the eight months since his diagnosis.

He didn’t call to complain or rail about his fate. He called to get the word out about making sure that lumps and bumps that aren’t right in your mouth get the proper attention. That may prevent others from facing his fate.

”If you see anything in your mouth, and it doesn’t go away, something is wrong. See an ear, nose and throat doctor. Insist on getting it biopsied,” he says. “Or just make sure you request an oral cancer check when you see your dentist.

“It’s a horrifying disease. [Treatment can mean] they cut part of your tongue out. And it’s hitting more and more people that don’t drink or smoke.”

According to www.oralcancerfoundation.org: “At least 34,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal [throat] cancer this year. It will cause over 8,000 deaths, killing roughly one person per hour, 24 hours per day. Of those 34,000 newly diagnosed individuals, only half will be alive in five years. This is a number which has not significantly improved in decades.”

Statistics from the American Cancer Society’s 2007 Facts and Figures report — www.cancer.org — are similar.

The key to survival, as with most cancers, is early diagnosis. Be on the lookout for the following symptoms and see a healthcare professional immediately if you experience:

• A sore or lesion in the mouth that does not heal within two weeks.

• A lump or thickening in the cheek.

• A white or red patch on the gums, tongue, tonsil, or lining of the mouth.

• A sore throat or a feeling that something is caught in the throat.

• Difficulty chewing or swallowing.

• Difficulty moving the jaw or tongue.

• Numbness of the tongue or other area of the mouth.

• Swelling of the jaw that causes dentures to fit poorly or become uncomfortable.