How Oral Cancer Screening Oregon Works In Medicine

By Karina Frost


Cancer of the mouth is a very common and yet very serious disease. There are several causes of it, and some people are more at risk than others, for instance, those who are smokers. To protect yourself from this disease, it may be a good idea to check into getting oral cancer screening oregon.

This disease affects people globally. As of 2010, more than 124,000 people have died of oral cancer. This is up from 82,000 who died from it in 1990. Nearly 37,000 Americans are estimated to be diagnosed with the disease in the coming year. Of these 37,000 new cases, about half will survive for five years or more. More than two-thirds will be diagnosed at stage three and four, which are late stages of the disease. The actual death rate for mouth cancer tends to be higher than cancers of the cervix, skin, and Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The disease often manifests as a non-healing sore or ulcer. This basically means an ulcer that is showing no signs of healing after about two weeks. In the US, this disease accounts for nearly eight percent of all malignant cancers. Men tend to be affected twice as often as women do, especially men that are older than sixty.

A premalignant lesion is normally benign. It is altered tissue that has the potential of becoming malignant over time. There are various types of these premalignant lesions that can occur in your mouth. Many of these lesions begin as red or white patches in the mouth. Some common lesions that may be premalignant are lichen planus of the mouth, actinic cheilitis and submucous fibrosis.

It is a good idea to have this screening test done at least once a year. If there is anything suspicious, the doctor will order special tests, such as an x-ray, a CT scan or an MRI. The doctor may also take a tissue biopsy for further testing. This testing will normally be done in a lab.

There are also other symptoms that may arise from this disease, such as having difficulty swallowing. Many patients also report having tongue problems and mouth sores. Intense pain and paraesthesia symptoms tend to develop in the later stages of the disease.

A brush biopsy is non-invasive and can be used to rule out any dysplasia in areas of the mouth with unexplained discoloration or lesions. However, the only sure method of determining if a lesion is cancerous or not is through a biopsy and a microscopic evaluation of the cells in the tissue sample.

Surgical removal of the mouth tumor is often recommended if it is small enough. This may produce satisfactory results. Radiation therapy or chemotherapy is also used along with surgery, particularly if the tumor is considered to be inoperable.




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