|
For many, a trip to the dentist is merely a painful inconvenience to be avoided wherever possible. Few people realise it could save their lives.
Eight out of 10 patients do not know cancer can occur in the mouth and dismiss the signs, which can be as simple as swollen gums.
As part of the national Mouth Cancer Awareness Week, which runs until Saturday, staff from Addenbrookes Hospital are offering a free open clinic and meeting schoolchildren in a bid to educate people about the risks of heavy drinking and smoking and how to recognise the symptoms. Frances Evans reports:
Each year around 3,800 people in the UK are diagnosed as having oral cancer and 1,700 die from the condition annually.
The death rate is higher than for either skin or cervical cancer, yet, despite these figures, awareness about the common condition remains stubbornly low.
Leo Chen, consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Addenbrookes Hospital, in Cambridge, is determined to increase people's understanding off the cancer and, hopefully save lives.
Tomorrow, he is holding a free session in Clinic Eight at the hospital, where anyone can drop in to have their mouth examined or simply ask questions about how the cancer can be prevented.
He said: "The disease can be successfully treated if it is caught early enough and access to information is a crucial step in helping people become more aware.
If you drink heavily and smoke, for example, your chances of developing oral cancer are 15 times higher."
Mr Cheng has also noticed a worrying increase of oral cancer amongst young women, though this is unexplained as yet.
Symptoms can range from swollen gums to a persistent sore throat and red patched in the mouth which do not disappear within three weeks. Anyone with concerns should initially make an appointment with their dentist.
Patients form Addenbrookes have now created their own website - www.ofmsaboutface.co.uk - to offer advice and also to show have other patients that, even after a positive diagnosis, they can still go on to live full lives.
Marlene Gaunt is one of Mr Cheng's success stories. The 70-year-old from Swaffham spotted what she thought was an ulcer on her tongue in Christmas 2000 but later had part of her tongue removed.
Thanks to reconstructive surgery carried out by Mr Cheng, she is already back singing with the Phoenix Singers.
"When I was told it shook my world to its foundations. I was worried about being able to speak, let alone sing again.," she said.
Ann Johnston, 57, of Cockcroft Place in Cambridge, was diagnosed with oral cancer after she had a wisdom tooth out - she had her operation this year and since then she has undergone radiotherapy.
Patients including Ann and Marlene headed down to Cambridge's Leys School with Mr Cheng last week to try and educate sixth formers about the risks of smoking and heavy drinking.
FACT FILE
Nationally, 3,800 people are diagnosed with mouth cancer each year, making it as common as cervical cancer.
Some 1,700 die annually, giving it a higher death rate than for cervical and skin cancer.
It can be cured if diagnosed early enough, with early cancers having an 80% cure rate.
The overall cure rate for advanced mouth cancer is less than 50%.
Eight out of 10 patients do not realise cancer can occur in the mouth.
It is on the increase in young patients and women.
The tongue and the floor of the mouth are the most common sites.
Heavy drinking combined with smoking increases the risks 15 times.
|
