Early Detection Key to Surviving Oral Cancer

By Nelson Rhodus, D.M.D, M.P.H.
Dec. 10, 2007

Last year the United States saw 40,000 new cases of oral and pharyngeal (throat) cancer. Even more startling is that 50 percent of those diagnosed will die within the next five years.   While fatality rates for people infected with other forms of cancer have steadily decreased over the past few decades, they are stagnant for those with oral and pharyngeal cancer. Though these numbers and facts are grim, research at the University of Minnesota's School of Dentistry provides hope for the future.

If detected early enough, oral cancer survival rates are as high as 75 to 90 percent. But lesions and sores in the mouth and throat are often unnoticed until it's too late.  Additionally, these early cancers often have no symptoms. Therefore, our researchers are focusing on three objectives: simplifying early detection, refining early diagnostic testing methods, and preventing cancer before it starts.

In the future, detecting oral cancer may be as easy as using a mouthwash. Our lab is investigating a new mouth rinse to determine its effectiveness in identifying oral lesions and sores. The rinse dries out abnormalities in the mouth, making it possible to see lesions not previously visible. Although this mouth rinse won’t diagnose cancer, it may prove to be an effective indicator of whether or not a lesion should receive additional attention.  

University researchers also are making strides with a minimally invasive testing method.  Currently, biopsy is the gold standard for determining if a lesion is benign or malignant.  Our lab is analyzing DNA from cells in saliva to see if it contains clues about whether a person is susceptible or is developing oral cancer. Someday, by simply spitting into a test tube, we might be able to determine if a person is susceptible to oral cancer or that a mouth sore is cancerous. This method of investigation also has the potential to screen for other types of cancer. 

After receiving a grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2005, University researchers began developing a drug that prevents benign lesions from becoming cancerous. Though the transition time for an oral lesion to progress from benign to malignant is slow (about eight years), once the sore turns cancerous it spreads rapidly, infecting the bloodstream and lymph nodes. If this remedy is proven to work, the overall impact will be extraordinary; in essence, we’d be able to stop oral cancer before it even starts. No longer would benign lesions need to be removed, salvaging portions of the mouth. This drug is nearing the end of its clinical trial, and the results are very promising. 

More recently we have seen a shift in the demographics of people diagnosed with oral and pharyngeal cancer. Previously, the majority of those infected were male smokers over the age of 40. Breakthroughs in current research, however, have linked the HPV virus with oral cancer. Regardless of a person’s age or sex, it’s important to pay attention to changes in one’s mouth. If a sore or lesion has been present for more than 10 to 14 days, it must be checked right away. Early detection is the key to survival.   

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Nelson Rhodus, D.M.D, MPH, is professor in the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry’s Division of Oral Medicine and Diagnosis.

Health Talk & You is an educational service of the University of Minnesota. Advice presented should not take the place of an examination by a health-care professional. For more health-related information, go to http://www.healthtalk.umn.edu/.  For comments or questions about Health Talk & You e-mail buss@umn.edu.