The Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and the Joan Karnell Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital will conduct free screenings for national oral, head and neck cancer during Oral, Head & Neck Cancer Awareness Week, April 14-20.
The screenings are quick, painless, and designed to advance early diagnosis, which can lead to better outcomes.
WHEN: |
Friday, April 19, 2013 — 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
WHERE: |
Pennsylvania Hospital
Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (adjacent to the Spruce Building)
811 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107 |
For more information, please call 215.829.6466; to register, please call 1.800.789.PENN (7366). While registration by phone is preferred, walk-ins are welcome!
Screening for oral, head and neck cancers is quick and painless. It involves just a few minutes of looking in the mouth and throat with a light and feeling the salivary glands, thyroid glands and neck lymph nodes. Any knot or abnormality that lasts more than two weeks – like a red or white patch on the tongue, a voice change or a lump on the neck – requires closer examination and should be evaluated by a physician.
Oral Head and Neck Cancer is:
- Cancer that arises in the head or neck region, including the nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, mouth, thyroid glands, salivary glands, throat, or larynx (voice box).
- The sixth-most-common form of cancer in the United States.
- 40,000 cases diagnosed annually.
Risk Factors for Oral Head and Neck Cancer
- Tobacco (including smokeless tobacco) and alcohol use are the most important risk factors for head and neck cancers, particularly those of the tongue, mouth, throat and voice box.
- Eighty-five percent of head and neck cancers are linked to tobacco use. People who use both tobacco and alcohol are at greater risk for developing these cancers than people who use either tobacco or alcohol alone. (Source: National Cancer Institute)
- Over the past decade, an increasing number of young, non-smokers have developed mouth and throat cancer associated with the human papilloma virus, or HPV. Today, 25 percent, or 10,000 cases each year, might be attributable to a strain of HPV. Physicians and researchers believe this might be due to an increase in oral sex as part of early sexual experience.
- Thyroid cancers can develop in anyone, although there often is a family history or exposure to radiation involved. Salivary gland cancers also do not seem to be associated with any particular cause.
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