Visual screening can prevent deaths from mouth cancer

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Around 37,000 deaths around the world from mouth cancer could be prevented by visual screening.
Mouth cancer is not common, but still claims over a quarter of a million lives each year, two thirds of which occur in developing countries. Many in the Indian sub-continent are at risk, and researchers in France and India have been looking at the impact of screening in this region.

They selected 13 population clusters. Seven received either visual screening or usual care. The rest also received usual care. Anyone with one or more mouth lesions detected by screening was referred on.

Follow up showed that five year survival in cases of mouth cancer was increased among the screening group compared to the control group - 50 per cent compared to 34 per cent. Screening also reduced mortality among users of tobacco and alcohol. This is the first time oral cancer screening has been shown to lead to a reduction in mortality and shows the value of this approach.

Source
The Lancet 4th June 2005