Are you checking your mouth for signs of cancer?
Early diagnosis can increase survival rates by up to 90%
When it comes to breast or testicular cancer, the message is clear: self-examination is one of the best ways to detect potential signs of the disease. Knowing our bodies and what is normal for us as individuals is crucial for recognising potential symptoms that may warrant discussion with a GP. Cases of mouth cancer are rapidly increasing in the UK. More people suffer from the disease than from testicular and cervical cancers.
So why aren’t more people self-examining? It takes 60 seconds to check yourself.
Simple mouth checks can save lives. Dentists should be doing this as part of routine dental check-ups. But we can help ourselves to stay healthy, too. We should all examine our mouths as part of our oral hygiene routines. Check your mouth once every two months.
Signs To Look For
- Red and white patches inside the mouth
- Mouth ulcers that last over two weeks
- Unusual lumps or swellings
- Most dentists offer cancer screening
When it comes to breast or testicular cancer, the message is clear: self-examination is one of the best ways to detect potential signs of the disease. Knowing our bodies and what is normal for us as individuals is crucial for recognising potential symptoms that may warrant discussion with a GP.
Cases of mouth cancer are rapidly increasing in the UK. More people suffer from the disease than from testicular and cervical cancers. So why aren’t more people taking note and self-examining? It is quick and easy to spot signs of mouth cancer
Other Cancers
Head and neck cancers do not discriminate by age, gender or ethnicity.
What is Jaw Necrosis?
Jaw Necrosis is a rare but serious condition in which the cells in the jawbone start to die. Osteoradionecrosis (ORN), caused by radiation from cancer treatment, makes people more susceptible to jaw necrosis. The gums are not well-protected from damage during treatment like other parts of the body. Radiation causes dry mouth and tight jaw as it makes the muscles contract, which makes dental care harder and also impacts on eating.
What is the traditional treatment for Jaw Necrosis?
Traditional treatment for jaw necrosis is surgery, including partial removal of the jaw or reconstruction using undamaged leg bone.
What is the impact of surgery?
Although surgery is really good for cancer treatment, it is not as effective for the treatment of jaw necrosis. Patients often have reduced quality of life because their jaw doesn’t feel the way it did before.
Another treatment traditionally used is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This is the same therapy used if a scuba diver had suffered a decompression injury. Essentially the patient is put into a high-pressure tank in an attempt to increase their oxygen levels. The theory is simply that higher oxygen levels in the body (and jaw) can promote better healing. However, a recent study called the Hop on Study shows this treatment doesn’t work effectively.
What is the Pentoclo Treatment Therapy?
Pentoclo Treatment Therapy doesn’t involve invasive surgery and aims to;
- Boost the blood supply to the jaw,
- Reverse some of the damage done to the skin and mouth and
- If the bone in the jaw is dead, it pushes the affected bone out.
What is the success rate of this therapy?
In some cases, the jawbone has been seen to rebuild. Pentoclo Treatment Therapy has a healing rate of 56%, which is a very high figure given the alternatives can be so destructive.
What Causes Odontogenic Tumours?
The bones that form the jaw and face develop in a different way to the bones of the skeleton, so naturally have unique disorders. Odontogenic tumours arise from abnormalities in tooth development, such as ameloblastoma. Alternatively, disturbances in bone growth lead to what is described as a fibro-osseous lesion or giant cell lesion. Odontogenic tumours mainly occur in the lower jaw and are locally invasive. They originate from tooth remnants, so do not move outside the bone. These lesions are silent and are usually discovered by chance on dental X-rays. Lesions are usually quite large when they are found.
Traditional Treatment of Odontogenic Tumours
The traditional treatment involves surgically removing lesions from the jaw, which leads to facial disfigurement. This can be particularly distressing for most patients, who are predominantly adolescents or young adults. This is a major operation that can take around ten hours to perform, as bone from the hip or leg has to be used to reform the jaw. Patients are in the hospital for a minimum of ten days, and the procedure has a significant mortality rate.
What Is the New Treatment Of Odontogenic Tumours?
A much smaller procedure, where the tumour lining is removed from the jaw and the cavity is sterilised, is being pioneered. This minimally invasive approach has been adopted by surgeons in many countries across the world and in some places in the UK.
What Is the Success Rate Of This Treatment?
The recurrence rate is approximately ten per cent. If odontogenic tumours reform, the procedure can be repeated. With this pioneering treatment, patients only spend one to two days in hospital and there are no devastating changes to a patient’s appearance.
What is the Traditional Treatment Of Giant Cell Lesions?
Giant Cell Lesions are associated with abnormalities in bone metabolism. This results in the growth of large bony swellings, which result in significant distortion of the face and jaw. Traditionally, surgeons remove the abnormal tissue and repair the defect with new bone taken from elsewhere on the body.
What Is the New Treatment For Giant Cell Lesions?
Over the last two decades, it has become clear that the process of bone growth can be controlled by new drugs, which slow down and direct bone growth. The lumps can then be pared down and controlled with medication. These lesions tend to burn out naturally, so the drugs are only required while the tumours are growing.
What is the Parotid Gland?
The Parotid glands are the largest of the salivary glands, which are located on both sides of the mouth, in front of both ears. Over three quarters (80%) of major tumours in the salivary gland start in this area.
What Are the Risks of Parotid Tumours?
One of the major facial nerves, which allows movement in the face, runs and branches out through the parotid gland. The nerve’s position in the salivary gland means it is often very close to any tumours, making surgery difficult and increasing the risk of patient nerve damage.
What is the Traditional Treatment?
It is extremely difficult to map out the nerve’s path or assess its involvement with salivary gland tumours. This means that, with pre-existing approaches, there is a high risk associated with the surgical treatment of tumours in this area.
What Are The Risks of Traditional Treatment?
With conventional scanning, the risk of long-term nerve damage is between 1-2% of surgeries, and around 10% of patients will experience temporary paralysis postoperatively. Nerve damage can result in several issues and take a toll on a patient’s recovery. Complications include weakness or numbness of the face, difficulty moving the lower lip, numbness or decreased sensation in the tongue, or difficulty closing one of your eyes. These side effects can often prevent people from consenting to, or surgeons feeling comfortable removing the tumour, due to the limited knowledge of its location and involvement with the facial nerve.
What is the new technology?
New MRI sequencing allows radiologists to identify the nerve and map its path through the parotid gland. Academic software is then applied to this data to create virtual images where the anatomy can be segmented. This creates a three-dimensional model of the parotid gland and shows where the tumour sits in relation to the major facial nerves. The data can then be uploaded to a Microsoft HoloLens, creating a three-dimensional model of the anatomy in augmented reality. This is effectively a ‘real-life’ model of the tumour, gland and nerve.
How Does This Technology Change Parotid Cancer Treatment?
This 3D model can be studied before treatment so that surgeons can accurately locate the tumour and map its proximity to the nerve. Patients are more confident when consenting to surgery, as they are more aware of the risk associated with their procedure. Surgeons also enter the operating theatre with greater confidence as they can accurately assess the risks associated with the patient mitigate the anomalies found during surgery. More.
What is the Future of Parotid Cancer Treatment?
In the future, this 3D holographic model will then be projected onto the patient during their surgery. This means the oncology team can study and continue to analyse the surgical plan throughout, maximising positive patient outcomes.
What are the barriers to this technology?
No one else is using the HoloLens software for this purpose. This is a completely new technological process that is hugely beneficial to patient outcomes. However, there are extensive barriers to the universal adoption of the software and use of the HoloLens in this way – mainly price, accessibility and training. These factors currently limit the number of oncologists who can utilise this technology.
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