Category Archives: Oral Cancer

Cancer Screening By Your Dentist

Posted on by
Reply

Cancer Screening

Dentists are trained to recognize both premalignant and malignant oral lesions. This is part of their schooling and training. A thorough cancer screening should be part of your regular exam and check-ups.

Smoking and drinking alcohol, particularly when done together, are known causative agents of oral cancer. Due to the destructive nature of these agents on the cells in your mouth, they more frequently need to repair themselves. With each reparative phase, there is more likely to be a mutation that can lead to cancer. Other cancers are viral-mediated. There has been an upsurge in pharyngeal cancers caused by HPV virus spread through oral sex.

Any suspicious sore, growth or ulcer should be reported to your dentist immediately. Most suspicious lesions will present as a red or white lesion, or an ulcer. The majority of red and white lesions in the mouth are not cancer and can represent a myriad of other disease entities, for example; herpes, apthous stomatitis, lichen planus, fungal infections, and simple thickening of the mucosa called “hyperkeratosis”.

White lesions, termed “leukoplakia”, literally meaning white patches, are usually benign. However, some white lesions represent a precancerous condition known as dysplasia. Dysplasia is when cells begin to change. While not yet a cancer, these atypical cells could turn into a cancer. “Erythroplakia”, or red lesions, are more likely to be a cancer. Your dentist should inspect any open ulcer or red lesion if they are present longer than 2 weeks. Cancer usually does not start out being painful. So even if the lesion does not hurt, it should still be examined.

The most common areas for cancer are the floor of the mouth, the area on the lower jaw behind the last tooth, and the sides of the tongue. Lesions in these areas should raise a higher level of suspicion. Your dentist may refer you to a specialist such as an oral surgeon for a biopsy. Most biopsies are a simple five minute in office procedure done with local anesthesia. The small piece of tissue that is removed is submitted to a pathology department for a definitive diagnosis. The results are usually available within 3-5 days. Almost all oral cancers in their early stages are easily cured, so be sure to see your dentist regularly.

Foods for Cancer Prevention

Posted on by
Reply

This month’s JADA had an interesting article titled, Diet and prevention of oral cancer. It is stated that more than 400,000 cases of oral and pharyngeal cancer occur annually worldwide. The American Cancer Society suggests that “one-third of the more than 500,000 cancer deaths that occur in the United States each year can be attributed to die and physical activity habits including overweight and obesity.” Investigators of this study set out to find which foods can protect you from cancer, and which increase your risks.

Simply put, cancer is thought to be initiated by cellular damage. So when setting out to find a diet geared towards cancer prevention, the goal is to find foods that may protect DNA from mutation or damage. So what did researchers find?

–There is much evidence of a protective role of vegetables and fruits, particularly citrus fruits, in the prevention of oral cancer.

–A high intake of fruits and vegetables are not only protective again oral and pharyngeal cancer, but have also been found to protect against cancer of other sites including esophagus, breast, prostate, lung, bladder and colon.

–Consumption of salted meat, processed meat and animal fat increases the risk of developing oral cancer.

–High consumption of dairy products is a risk factor for head and neck squamous cell cancers.

–Use of dietary supplements (vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive compounds) in the absence of deficiencies does not provide the same benefits as eating fresh fruits and vegetables and should therefore not be a substitute for them.

Also included in the study were additional recommendations for cancer prevention:

Body Fat: be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight.
Physical Activity: be physically active as part of everyday life
Foods and drinks that promote weight gain: limit consumption of energy-dense foods and sugary drinks.
Plant Foods: eat mostly foods of plant origin.
Animal Foods: limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat.
Preservation, processing, and preparation: limit consumption of salt; avoid moldy cereals (grains) and pulses (legumes).
Dietary Supplements: aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone; dietary supplements are not recommended for cancer prevention.
Breastfeeding: mothers should breastfeed and children should be breastfed.
Cancer Survivors: follow the recommendations for cancer prevention.

Dentists should be preforming oral cancer screenings on their patients at least once a year. If your dentist hasn’t mentioned this to you, perhaps you should ask him/her if they’ve checked you recently. This is particularly important for those individuals with a higher risk or oral and pharyngeal cancer development, including current or previous tobacco users, those who consume alcohol, betel nut or gutka; those with existing premalignant lesions or with a history of head and neck or upper aerodigest tract cancers.

Is this study stating you should cut out all the meat, salt, sugar and dairy? No. But I doubt our parents knew just how right they were when they told us to eat our fruits and vegetables!

See the study for yourself here:
Diet and Prevention of Oral Cancer