What You Should Know About Oral Cancer Screening Oregon

By Karina Frost


Cancer of the mouth is a very common and yet very serious disease. There are several causes of it, and some people are more at risk than others, for instance, those who are smokers. To protect yourself from this disease, it may be a good idea to check into getting oral cancer screening oregon.

This disease affects people globally. As of 2010, more than 124,000 people have died of oral cancer. This is up from 82,000 who died from it in 1990. Nearly 37,000 Americans are estimated to be diagnosed with the disease in the coming year. Of these 37,000 new cases, about half will survive for five years or more. More than two-thirds will be diagnosed at stage three and four, which are late stages of the disease. The actual death rate for mouth cancer tends to be higher than cancers of the cervix, skin, and Hodgkin's lymphoma.

This disease also commonly involves the tongue. But it can also develop in the cheek lining, the gums, the roof of your mouth, or the floor of the mouth. When viewed under a microscope, the different versions of the disease can look very similar. That is why medical tests are necessary to distinguish between them early on for a proper diagnosis.

A premalignant lesion is normally benign. It is altered tissue that has the potential of becoming malignant over time. There are various types of these premalignant lesions that can occur in your mouth. Many of these lesions begin as red or white patches in the mouth. Some common lesions that may be premalignant are lichen planus of the mouth, actinic cheilitis and submucous fibrosis.

Another early sign of the disease is a white patch on the soft tissues of the mouth. This is called a leukoplakia. If the sore shows as a red patch, this is called a erythroplakia. The sore may produce a burning sensation or become painful once the tumor has reached an advanced stage. Sometimes these sores can be observed behind the wisdom tooth or even behind your ear.

There are many screening devices that doctors and dentists may use to detect oral cancer. Some of these devices include the Velscope, the identafi 3000 or the Vizilite Plus. Doctors need to be careful that these devices do not harm the patient through over use, or produce false positives that may lead to unnecessary biopsies.

A brush biopsy is non-invasive and can be used to rule out any dysplasia in areas of the mouth with unexplained discoloration or lesions. However, the only sure method of determining if a lesion is cancerous or not is through a biopsy and a microscopic evaluation of the cells in the tissue sample.

Surgical removal of the mouth tumor is often recommended if it is small enough. This may produce satisfactory results. Radiation therapy or chemotherapy is also used along with surgery, particularly if the tumor is considered to be inoperable.




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