FREE Oral Cancer Screening Clinic at Newark-Wayne Community Hospital

During Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, April 12 – 18

In conjunction with Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, April 12 – 18, Newark-Wayne Community Hospital’s Speech Pathology Department and Finger Lakes Otolaryngology are offering a free oral cancer screening on Monday, April 12th.  The screening will be conducted by Dr. John Centonze, an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist and Speech Pathologists, Gerriann Jackson, M.S., CCC-SLP and Kim Ricigliano, M.S., CCC-SLP.

Just because you can’t feel cancer, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Ask the more than 35,000 Americans who were diagnosed with cancers of the head and neck last year. Unfortunately many Americans do not recognize the symptoms of these life-threatening disease, which include cancers of the oral cavity, larynx and pharynx and by the time they are diagnosed, for some, it is too late.

In 2008, approximately 7,550 American died from oral, head and neck cancer.  However, there is good news.  If diagnosed very early, oral, head and neck cancers can be more easily treated without significant complications and the chances of survival greatly increase. 

Who should get tested? Every adult should be tested. Tobacco and alcohol users traditionally have been considered the people at greats risk for these cancers. However, oropharyngeal cancer is on the rise in young adults who do not smoke. Researcher have attributed this development partly to the increase of the cancer-causing human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which can be transmitted by oral sex. Oropharyngeal cancers associated with HPV are more difficult to detect because these cancers usually occurs on the back of the tongue or on the tonsils, providing all the more reason to get screened regularly.

What are the potential warning signs of oral cancers? The signs and symptoms of oral cancer often go unnoticed.  However, there are a few visible signs associated with these cancers that require immediate attention, including:

• Red or white patches in the mouth that last more than two weeks
• Change in voice or hoarseness that lasts more than two weeks
• Sore throat that does not subside
• Pain or swelling in the mouth or neck that does not subside
• Lump in the neck
• Ear pain
• Difficulty speaking or swallowing
• Difficulty breathing

For more information, contact Gerriann Jackson at (315) 332-2236.

*Statistics courtesy of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance website

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