Raising awareness of oral cancer from a public and health professional perspective

Abstract

Low public awareness of oral cancer and delays in symptomatic patients presenting to health services have been identified as contributing factors to poor survival rates. In order to promote diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer at an earlier stage, public awareness campaigns have been recommended, encouraging those with signs and symptoms to attend primary care services at an earlier stage. This article provides an overview of the evidence of effectiveness of interventions aimed at raising cancer awareness and explores the use of mass media for health behaviour change.The use of awareness campaigns to promote earlier diagnosis of oral cancer is also explored from both a patient and health professional perspective.The findings of the overview suggest that while awareness raising campaigns can increase knowledge of the disease and attendance at health services in the short-term, those at lesser risk often respond, and evidence of longer-term impact is very limited. The translation of knowledge into behaviour change is likely to require a more comprehensive, longer-term, multi-faceted approach, acknowledging the social determinants of health and health behaviour theory. More work is required to understand what needs to be included in campaigns to make them effective.Availability and access to appropriately trained and informed primary care personnel is important, particularly for high-risk group. This is relevant for supporting those with signs and symptoms to attend services; promoting opportunistic screening; enabling referral of patients to secondary care in a timely manner; and for provision of advice on the major risk factors associated with oral cancer.

Time-to-Treatment in Oral Cancer: Causes and Implications for Survival

“…The challenge, therefore, is to advance the diagnosis to an earlier stage, which then would result in less morbidity and a better prognosis [54]. Strategies for diagnosing oral cancer at an early stage include population screening of high-risk groups, opportunistic screening by HCP and reducing the timeintervals in diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer [55]. Since the patient interval is the major contributor to the total time-interval, priority should be given to strategies aimed at increasing public education and awareness of early signs and/or symptoms of HNC [13].…”

Low-dose aspirin confers a survival benefit in patients with pathological advanced-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma

“…Adopting unhealthy lifestyle habits such as tobacco and alcohol consumption is the primary cause of oral cancer in Western countries 8 – 10 . In Asian-Pacific countries, on top of tobacco and alcohol consumption, betel (areca) nut chewing is also known as one of the major factors contributing to the risk of developing oral cancer 11 , 12 .…”

The Beneficial Effect of Low-Dose Aspirin on the Survival of Pathological Advanced-Stage Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

“…According to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO) on oral cancer, the incidence rates of oral cancer are high, and it remains responsible for the top three most common cancers in certain Asian-Paci c countries 3,4 . Although its prevalence is low in Western countries, the incidence rates of oral cancer driven by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and some lifestyle habits have increased gradually but signi cantly and become a public health concern [5][6][7][8][9][10] .…”

“…Adopting unhealthy lifestyle habits such as tobacco and alcohol consumption is the primary cause of oral cancer in Western countries [8][9][10] . In Asian-Paci c countries, on top of tobacco and alcohol consumption, betel (areca) nut chewing is also known as one of the major factors contributing to the risk of developing oral cancer 11,12 .…”