Last night, Michael Douglas announced to America that he had stage 4 throat cancer, diagnosed only 3 weeks ago. Symptoms? Yes-- pain, dry throat, hoarse voice, ear pain--all which he told to many doctors, many months ago. Only after a biopsy did they determine it was stage 4 throat cancer, attributing it to previous cigarette & alcohol use. He is now undergoing radiation & chemo treatments 5 days per week for the walnut-sized tumor located under his tongue.
Pathologies in the mouth & throat tend to grow & spread fairly quickly due to the constant reproduction of cells in the oral cavity. Most aren't even visible until they are already a stage 3 or stage 4 (the worst). Even worse, the 5 year survival rate for oral cancer is only 50%.
So why is this important? Every hour of every day in America, someone dies of oral cancer. As dental providers, we now have ways to screen for early detection of oral cancer--early enough to catch at a stage 1 (the earliest) or 2. One of these screening tools is called Velscope. It is "a technology platform based on the direct visualization of human tissue fluorescence and the changes in fluorescence that occur when abnormal tissue is present"--meaning it uses a special light filter that enables us to see beneath the tissue inside your mouth, allowing us to see any abnormalities beneath the surface (see below). Being able to see beneath the suface provides us the ability to diagnose pathologies earlier, which means a greater success rate & survival rate for the patient. If an abnormality is found via Velscope, the dentist should recommend a follow-up evaluation of the area 2 weeks later. If the area is still diagnosed abnormal via Velscope, a biopsy of the area should be recommended to determine or rule out the pathology.
Biopsy-confirmed: Carcinoma in Situ (CIS)
Velscope uses a special light only--no bad tasting rinses, no brushing away of gum tissue--just a light. The dentist should be trained to diagnose abnormalities through the special filter & the entire oral cavity examination with the Velscope should take less than 2 minutes.
Did Michael Douglas see his dentist on a regular basis? I don't know. Did he have an oral cancer screening regularly? I don't know. What we do know is this...Early diagnosis is key to preventing & saving lives. So ask your dentist for a Velscope oral cancer screening at least once a year.
While I agree whole-heartedly that patients should see their dentists regularly and insist on having an oral cancer screening if they aren't already receiving one; the VELscope does not have the ability to "diagnose" abnormality. It would be great if it did, but it's a light; a visualization tool.
ReplyDelete