Each year in the US alone, approximately 34,000 individuals are
newly diagnosed with oral cancer.
If you add throat cancers to that
number (which have the same risk factors), that number will increase to
about 46,000. The death rate from oral cancer is very high; about half
those diagnosed will not survive more than five years.
While these statistics are alarming, this rate is drastically reduced
with early diagnosis. In addition to a visual examination for oral
cancer, we have two additional services available to our patients.
We
offer exams with the
VELscope, a state-of-the-art device which allows us
to see beneath the surface to detect potentially dangerous growths not
yet visible to the naked eye.
We also offer salivary Human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing. HPV is a
common virus that has infected more than 20 million people in the United
States, with approximately 6 million new cases each year. There are
many different types of HPV, and the health risk varies depending upon
the type of virus. While some types of HPV are low-risk and may cause
skin lesions such as warts, there are other HPV types that are
classified as high-risk. Certain high-risk types of HPV are linked with
approximately 90% cervical cancers as well as causing other types of
cancer such as cancer of the mouth, tongue, tonsils and throat areas.
Call us today to make an appointment-- it could save your life.
