I just got off the phone with my pseudo sister in SoCal, who told me she heard on the radio there, an announcement about having one's dentist examine you for oral cancer. It then went on to say that 30,000 new cases would be diagnosed this year. She thinks the station was KFWB. If this is you at work, Brian, Good Going!!
Joanna

That's a lot of people who will be developing some form of oral cancer - and the bad thing is, a lot of times there are no noticable symptoms to prompt a person to get checked out. My husband John got diagnosed only after he went to his doctor for a case of "swimmers ear" and the doctor felt a hard mass on the opposite side of his neck. As it turned out, the squamous cell carcinoma had already spread to the lymph nodes in his neck. Other than a pain in his ear and a slight "scratchy throat" sensation - he didn't notice anything "unusual". I just hope and pray that someday a cure for all kinds of cancer can be found soon. It seems not too much has changed in treatment for oral cancer in the past 10 years or so. Maybe this will change - new strides in treatment needs to be found for this illness.

It is unlikely that we will find any new treatments for oral cancer in the immediate future; most of the research is going into other cancers or cancer in general, which may as a by-product help us. But early diagnosis could radically reduce the death rate which has remained unchanged for almost 50 years. If found at a stage 1 or 2 there is an 80-90% chance of survival. At stage 3 or 4, a 20-30% chance. Just catching it early will save lives using the treatments that we have. The problem is that no one is looking for it, and the public doesn't know about it.... Those are the things we have to change.

Donnajean,
I agree. I went to a dentist, a periodontist and an endodontist and even had the periodontist take his mirror and try to look down my throat since it had been dry and scratchy for months. Of course I gagged and he could not see down there.
When I was finally diagnosed I was told by the doctors that throat ( base of tongue ) cancer like mine is one of " the hidden cancers ". It just was in my throat growing freely for who knows how long. When I complained to doctor friends everyone assumed, me being a non-smoker and a fit 54 yr old, that it was allergies or reflux. It was not until I began having problems swallowing food and went to an ENT who scoped me that I was finally diagnosed...at stage IV.
So there lies the problem. Even a conscientious dentist, who may detect mouth lesions, is not able to detect tumors in the throat, and most aren't trained to feel neck nodes. I guess that as part of advocacy for oral cancer, the public needs to be educated about some of the subtle symptoms, like a persistent dry , scratchy throat or swallowing difficulties.

Danny G.