Free Head and Neck Cancer Screening Event Held
Leslie Capo, Director of Information Services
Led by Dr. Rohan Walvekar, an LSU SOM Head and Neck Surgeon, LSU Health New Orleans
ENT faculty and medical students recently conducted free community head and neck cancer
screenings at Broadmoor Community Church in New Orleans. The potentially life-saving
screening involves an examination of the oral cavity and neck, as well as counseling
about risk factors for head and neck cancers and were offered on a first-come, first-served
basis. Participants were referred for follow-up where warranted.
Head and neck cancers include cancers of the oral cavity, throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx), paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity, and salivary glands.
According to the National Cancer Institute, head and neck cancers account for nearly four percent of all cancers in the United States. These cancers are more than twice as common among men as they are among women and are also diagnosed more often among people over age 50 than they are among younger people. Researchers estimated that more than 68,000 men and women in the United States would be diagnosed with head and neck cancers in 2021. Most will be diagnosed with mouth, throat, or voice box cancer. Paranasal sinus and nasal cavity cancer and salivary gland cancer are much less common.
If oral cancer is caught when the disease is still localized (when it has not spread beyond the original tumor site), the 5-year relative survival rate is about 85 percent. Treatment for very early-stage oral cancer may require only minor surgery to remove the cancer.
The major risk factors for oral cancer are smoking and the use of tobacco products, drinking alcohol, especially together, and prior cancer in the region. HPV infection can also increase risk. Signs and symptoms of oral cancer include a sore in the mouth that doesn't go away, sore throat or the feeling that something is caught in your throat, difficulty chewing or swallowing, difficulty moving or swelling in your jaw, a change in the voice, thickening of your cheek, or a growth or swelling in the neck.
The first 60 people screened received a Southerns Chicken Sandwich as an added bonus.