Oral Cancer Test
By Dr. Linda Niessen -- Baylor College of Dentistry STORY: ORAL CANCER TEST SCRIPT #531 SHOOT: 11/6/01 & 10/8/03 AIRDATE: Monday, Nov. 10, 2003 DHC MASTER #18 Timecode: 37:22
Monday, November 10, 2003
Oral cancer is no longer just a man’s disease. One out of three people diagnosed with oral cancer is female. As more women smoke and drink alcohol, they raise their risk of developing the disease.
“There was a little white spot, maybe a quarter of an inch,” Julia Reddersen said.
When detected early, oral cancer can be treated easily. But in advanced stages, overall survival rate falls to 50 percent or less. “So we have to be more concerned about people who smoke and people who use smokeless tobacco,” Dr. Janelle Moran-Kenny said.
A quick test detects oral cancer early when it is most curable. Oral CDX is a painless, brush biopsy that many dentists now offer. Dental patients with a suspicious spot can get test results within a few days.
“We have a tiny brush and we scrape that brush across the lesion, and that’s absolutely all there is to it. We put those cells that we accumulate on a slide. We sent it into a lab and microscopically they evaluate those cells to see if there is a problem,” Moran-Kenny said.
The American Dental Association is working to educate women and men about the dangers of oral cancer. Dentists play a critical role in diagnosing the deadly disease through routine oral exams.
“Dentists thoroughly check the mouth, the tongue, and all the tissues for any lesions,” Moran-Kenny said.
If you see any white or red spots, bumps, or sores, they should be examined by a dentist as soon as possible. More than a quarter of all oral cancer patients have no history of tobacco or alcohol use. So every patient needs yearly oral cancer exams, and if a suspicious spot appears, a brush biopsy can be done easily and quickly. For Baylor College of Dentistry, The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center in Dallas, I'm Dr. Linda Niessen, Channel 8 News.
Dr. Linda Niessen, clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences and the Office of Communications and Development at Baylor College of Dentistry, hosts Dental Health Check, the only weekly dental feature shot on location in the nation.
