Oral Cancer
The mortality rate for oral cancer remains unchanged.2
The mortality rates associated with oral cancer have not changed in over 30 years due in part to the limitations of white light inspection of the oral cavity.3Traditional oral cancer screening using white light is best at detecting readily apparent changes at the tissue surface. Unfortunately, the tissue changes that lead to oral cancer actually start below the surface at the basal membrane. These changes may not be visible to the naked eye until the disease progresses to the surface.
50% of patients diagnosed with oral cancer are expected to die within 5 years.4 If caught early, 90% of cases are curable.5
Oral cancer is often curable when detection, diagnosis, and treatment are performed early. This means detecting mucosal abnormalities at or before Stage 1 cancer. Early detection of potentially malignant lesions and accurate identification of biopsy locations are significant factors in decreasing morbidity and mortality rates associated with oral cancer.6
In the past three decades there has been a 60% increase in oral cancer in adults under the age of 40.7
Risk factors for oral cancer include tobacco use, frequent alcohol consumption, a compromised immune system, a past history of cancer, and the presence of the Human Papillion Virus (HPV). Alarmingly, 25% of newly diagnosed cases of oral cancer do not fit the high-risk profile.8 Therefore, all patients over the age of 18 should be screened annually for oral cancer.
Early screening, diagnosis, and treatment planning for oral cancer will save lives.
The ideal process of screening for oral cancer would make it possible for clinicians to accurately identify tissue changes below the surface at the basal membrane before mucosal abnormalities become visible under white light examination. It has to be simple, easy to incorporate into routine preventive hygiene appointments, complimentary with other treatments, and noninvasive.
Last updated 05/23/2006.