- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
Editor's Note: Dina García is a professor in the Department of Behavior and Health Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
(CNN Spanish) - Cancer represents one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to the International Cancer Research Center, IARC for its acronym in English, in 2018 a total of 9.6 million deaths worldwide were attributed to this condition.
There are many types of cancer that can originate in different parts of the body, including the mouth. This type of cancer is known as oral cancer and includes malignant neoplasms that attack the cells that make up the tissues of the oral cavity and the back of the throat.
According to the National Institutes of Health of the United States, about 90 percent of all cases of oral cancer diagnosed are attributed to squamous carcinoma. “This type of oral cancer affects the cells that cover the most superficial layer of the mucosa of the mouth that makes up everything that would be the lining of the oral cavity including the inner part of the lips, the inner part of the cheeks, the palate , the tongue, the mouth, and the floor of the mouth, ”said Dr. Rodolfo Epifanio, a dentist specializing in oral medicine and a professor at the University of Panama.
- A 5-year-old cancer survivor donates 3,000 toys to the children's hospital where he was treated
How does oral cancer affect the population of Latin America?
A group of collaborators and researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington recently conducted a study to assess the burden of oral cancer in Latin American countries. To do this, they used secondary data from the study of the Global Burden of Disease, known by its acronym in English as GBD. In this investigation they analyzed the years of healthy life lost (AVISA) due to this disease. This metric is different from other ways to quantify the disease since it adds two components of health loss — premature death and disability.
“Traditionally information systems are based on the lists of the main causes that kill and on the other hand the list of disability. But there is no list or ranking where these two causes are added — those that kill and those that disable, ”said María Jesús Ríos Blancas, a PhD student at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico and principal investigator of the study.
According to the results of the study, awarded in June with an award at the congress of the International Association for Research in Dentistry (IADR), the three Latin American countries with the highest burden of health loss due to oral cancer in 2017 were: Brazil , Uruguay and Honduras. While the three with less burden of the disease were: Nicaragua, Chile, and Mexico.
“These results can serve the academic community, the population in general and even our decision makers to be able to focus interventions and also see what other countries are doing and not adopt them as is, but adapt it to our context to also have such interventions with better performance in our territory, ”said Dr. Ríos Blancas.
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Three Ways to Prevent and Detect a Deadly Disease
What are the risk factors for this type of cancer?
The principal investigator also told us that, according to the results of the study, the burden of oral cancer is much higher in men than in women due to the two main risk factors: alcohol consumption and smoking. "Smoking directly has been related as the most important risk factor in cancer in the oral cavity and in the oropharynx and definitely when combined with alcohol that risk is further enhanced," said Dr. Epifanio.
The first advice to people who smoke is to consider quitting not only for oral cancer, but for all other diseases associated with smoking, including lung diseases, heart disease and lung cancer. Caution should also be taken with the use of other forms of tobacco such as electronic cigarettes and hookahs. “These types of tobacco have become very fashionable and for some reason young people assume that these habits are different from smoking, but in the end it is the same since we are doing tobacco combustion which generates a series of toxins that you inhale and that Toxic inhalation is the one that eventually damages the cells that later transforms into cancer, ”said Dr. Epifanio.
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research also identifies other risk factors that include:
• The consumption of few fruits and vegetables
• Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Excessive sun exposure on the lips
• People over 40 years old
- Michael Douglas says that oral sex caused throat cancer
Oral Cancer Detection
Oral cancer can be detected in early stages either through a self-examination or during routine check-ups with the dentist. It is recommended that people have their self-examination periodically when they finish brushing their teeth. “One exercise you can do is to stick your tongue forward and look at the sides of your tongue to see that you don't have any sores because generally the way cancer occurs is like a white plaque that is not removed or like a sore or an ulcer that does not heal, ”commented Dr. Epifanio.
According to the American College of Prosthodontists, manifestations of oral cancer may include:
• Numbness of the tongue or difficulty moving the tongue
• Difficulty chewing or swallowing food
• Pain in the mouth and loose teeth
• Swelling of the jaw or tumors in the mouth
• White or red spot on the mucosa
• Ulcer in the mouth that does not heal
If they find an abnormality during the self-examination of the mouth, they should consult with a dentist and refer to the appropriate specialist since oral cancer is treatable and there is a better prognosis when it is diagnosed in early stages. The main thing is that people do not panic when they hear the word biopsy when they arrive with a specialist since biopsy is simply the study of tissue to see what is happening and see if the person needs other types of care.
Prevention is key against oral cancer
Beyond self-examination and early diagnosis with the dentist and / or specialists, public policies can also support the prevention of oral cancer in Latin America through:
• The incorporation of vaccines against Human Papillomavirus in the national vaccination schedule scheme
• The implementation of smoking cessation and alcoholism centers
• Regulation of alcohol and tobacco products
• The prohibition of tobacco smoke in public places
• The design and implementation of outreach and prevention campaigns for oral cancer
It is important to foster a culture of prevention in the region since generally the most prevalent diseases of the mouth, such as tooth decay and gum disease, are not associated with mortality, so no attention is paid to what happens in the mouth until when it is too late.