I missed this when it was put on youtube back in July. Cancer is a great equaliser isn't it. Doesn't matter how rich and famous you are. A very humble and grateful speech. Michael Douglas Speaks About his Battle With Cancer

Thanks for posting this!

Isn't it amazing how many similarities we all share?

Yes--Thank you for posting this.

I'm extremely happy for Michael Douglas.

Every time he comes to mind, I can't help but think of the despicable tabloid photos I saw of him during the time of his treatment, showing him gaunt and thin. The tabloid slugs did the same thing to Michael Landon during his battle with cancer back in the 90s. It just doesn't get much lower than that.

Anyway...I'm not an oral cancer patient. I came to this forum a year or so ago inquiring about lip cancer because I had some questions about a lot of precancerous skin (sun damage) on my lower lip, something I've since received treatment for.

But I do have an inquiry to make here today regarding early detection of cancer at the back of the tongue, something I'd like to be proactive about preventing. Unfortunately, I've read that early detection of this is often "difficult," but I don't understand why that is the case, what with modern optical devices so easily available. What would be so difficult about scoping, with magnification, the side of a patient's tongue in the back to look for very early changes as a routine part of doing an oral exam? I don't get it. Does tongue cancer have to be the size of a walnut (Michael Douglas' description of his own tongue cancer in an account I read) before an ENT recognizes it as something that should be biopsied?

I had a nasal scoping done today by an ENT for a GERD-related throat issue and when he did the preliminary exam of my mouth, he didn't even pull out my tongue to look at the back/side of it, let alone use any optical aid to look at it.

Thanks.

Sadly, oral cancer's are not the type that are easily identified via an optical device. Yes, there are commercially available devices that purport to do that, but they are still new and may not yet have a proven track record; this being one reason why we don't see one in every doctor's and dentist's office.

You mentioned the ENT not examining the back of your tongue for a GERD related problem. Do you know if base of tongue exam is an accepted part of the exam procedure for GERD. If not, then can you really fault the doctor for not checking you for a different problem (worry about cancer) that maybe you didn't communicate to him/her.

One thing we all can do as patients and advocates is to know what a proper oral screening exam looks like. If and when it is not followed the delicate problem becomes how to communicate that to our doctors and dentists. I haven't yet been successful in getting my dentist to do a better oral exam; so (as a survivor) I make sure my ENT does a good one every time I see him.

If you don't know what a good oral exam looks like, there are good videos on Youtube and even possibly some here on the OCF website to watch.

In the absence of routine optical device use we have to depend on good oral cancer screening technique.