It's Oral Cancer Awareness Month: Have You Looked In Your Mouth Lately?

Women hear this often when it comes to breast cancer: a simple self-exam could save your life. Here's another one. In honor of April's Oral Cancer Awareness Month, a local ear, nose and throat specialist is trying to raise awareness of this lesser known, but very dangerous, cancer that can be prevented by just keeping better tabs on the inside of your mouth.

According to recent 2012 statistics from The American Cancer Society:

• About 35,000 people will get oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer.

• An estimated 6,800 people will die of these cancers.

While the incidents may not be as high as some other forms of cancer, the survival rate is compartively quite low. According to Dr. Michael Bergstein, of Sleepy Hollow's office, the largest of 36 such offices in the tri-state area, oral cancer claims as many lives as melonoma and twice as many as cervical cancer. While men suffer from this twice as much as women, the rate is apparently rising among women, the young and non-smokers. 

Early detection alone can lower these figures.

“While the five-year survival rate of oral cancer victims is among the lowest of all cancers, there is hope,” says Dr. Michael Bergstein, of Sleepy Hollow's office. "The first step in putting a halt to oral cancer is for individuals to perform a quick oral self-exam. Oral self-exams are important for everyone since over 25 percent of oral cancer victims have no known risk factors. These self-exams are simple to perform and can prompt individuals to seek medical attention at the very earliest sign of trouble.”

The self exam, as outlined in the brochure attached here, involves some close daily inspection in your mirror. After brushing and rinsing your teeth, look around inside your cheeks, gums, sides of the tongue, and under the tongue for small red or white spots. Of course our mouths are ripe with small wounds from biting cheeks or burning the tongue, but keep on the look-out for anything unusual. A doctor can then in turn sample these spots painlessly for any unhealthy cells that may need to be removed before oral cancer begins.

“Raising public awareness is the key to early detection of oral cancer, rather than waiting until more extensive surgical interventions are necessary – some of which have poor survival rates," Bergstein said. "We want to educate the public of the importance of looking for the earliest signs to help put an end to the progression of oral cancer."

ENT and Allergy Associates is located at 358 N Broadway Ste 203. Dr. Michael Bergstein can be reached at 914/631-3053. For more information on the self-exam click the brochure here.