[SWAF-Potluck] CTV: Oral cancer on the rise in young people

[Andy Sorfleet]

Story is about a way to get checked. They think the rise in cancer
could be from HPV transmitted through oral sex.  as

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http://bc.ctvnews.ca/
CTV NEWS VANCOUVER
Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Norma Reid


Oral cancer on the rise in young people

B.C. researchers are investigating why an increasing amount of younger
people are developing oral cancer.

Doctors speculate that viruses like human papillomavirus or HPV, which
causes cervical cancer, may be boosting the rates of the potentially
deadly cancer.

Dr. Calum Macaulay at the BC Cancer Agency said there's an argument to
be made that it's linked to sexual transmission.

[photo caption]
A technicians uses a hand-held portable device called a VELScope to
detect oral cancer. (CTV)

Sufferers Michael Douglas and Roger Ebert have helped spread the word
of early detection.

However, four in 10 oral cancer patients will die within five years of
being diagnosed.

At the BC Cancer Agency, technicians use a hand-held portable device
called a VELScope to detect changes in the mouth that can't be seen by
the naked eye.

Macaulay, who invented the fluorescent technology, says it can be used
to determine which patients need more evaluations through scraping the
oral cavity or biopsy.  The device allows dentists and hygienists to
scan for abnormal tissue that may be cancerous.

"Ever been in a night club and your white shirt glows? It's the same
concept," he said.

It's estimated that 65 per cent of oral cancers go undiagnosed. That's
because the tissue changes that lead to oral cancer actually start
below the skin's surface, at the basal membrane. These changes may not
be visible to the naked eye until the disease progresses to the
surface.

Marci Eaton was just 30-years-old when she found a bump on her tongue.
"It was pretty much the same colour as the tongue, with a little bit
of redness around the outside edge," she said.

It was cancer. Eaton, who didn't smoke or drink, had half of her
tongue removed by surgeons within weeks of her diagnosis.

She is now 17 years cancer free, and credits the BC Cancer Agency with
her survival.

"If you were going to get a cancer like this, you want to be in
Vancouver where all the biggest and the best clinicians are," she
said.

More than 50 clinics across B.C. are participating in a community
screening initiative. Click here to find one near you.

A fundraiser to help raise money and awareness for the BC Oral Cancer
Prevention Program is being held April 24 at Terminal City Club.