Ahmed S, Rahman A, Hull S Use of betel quid and cigarettes among Bangladeshi patients in an inner-city practice: prevalence and knowledge of health effects. Br J Gen Pract. 1997; 47:(420)431-434
Ali H, Donovan B, Wand H, Read TR, Regan DG, Grulich AE, Fairley CK, Guy RJ Genital warts in young Australians five years into national human papillomavirus vaccination programme: national surveillance data. Br Med J. 2013; 346
Antunes JLF, Toporcov TN, Biazevic MGH, Boing AF, Scully C, Petti S Alcohol drinking effect and oral cancer: independent or joint effect with smoking? Large case-control study. Public Library Of Science (PLoS One). 2013; 8:(7)
Brennan A, Meng Y, Holmes J, Hill-McManus D, Meier PS Potential benefits of minimum unit pricing for alcohol versus a ban on below cost selling in England 2014: modelling study. Br Med J. 2014; 349:1-14
Ebbert J, Montori VM, Erwin PJ, Stead LF Interventions for smokeless tobacco use cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011; 16:(2)1-51
Ferreira Antunes JL, Toporcov TN, Biazevic MG, Boing AF, Scully C, Petti S Joint and independent effects of alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking on oral cancer: a large case-control study. PLoS One. 2013; 8:(7)
Galeone C, Tavani A, Pelucchi C, Turati F, Winn DM, Levi F Coffee and tea intake and risk of head and neck cancer: pooled analysis in the international head and neck cancer epidemiology consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010; 19:(7)1723-1736
Gandolfo S, Scully C Carrozzo M.Edinburgh and London: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2006
Hassona Y, Scully C, Abu Ghosh M, Khoury Z, Jarrar S, Sawair F Mouth cancer awareness and beliefs among dental patients. Int Dent J. 2014;
Her Majesty's Government, 2014. (Last accessed January 2015)
Herrero R, Quint W, Hildesheim A, Gonzalez P, Struijk L Reduced prevalence of oral Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 4 years after bivalent HPV vaccination in a randomized clinical trial in Costa Rica. PLoS One. 8:(7)
Kirby J, Scully C Mouth cancer statement launch. Prim Dent J. 2014; 3:24-25
Kujan O Evaluation of screening strategies for improving oral cancer mortality: a Cochrane systematic review. J Dent Educ. 2005; 69:255-265
Llewellyn CD, Johnson NW, Warnakulasuriya S Factors associated with delay in presentation among younger patients with oral cancer. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2004; 97:707-713
Meurman JH, Scully C Cancer of the mouth for the dental team. Oral cancer: comprehending the condition, causes, controversies, control and consequences. 3. Other risk factors. Dent Update. 2011; 38:66-68
National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. 2012.
Petti S, Masood M, Messano GA, Scully C Alcohol is not a risk factor for oral cancer in nonsmoking, betel quid non-chewing individuals. A meta-analysis update. Annls Hyg. 2013; 25:3-14
The magnitude of tobacco smoking-betel quid chewing-alcohol drinking interaction effect on oral cancer in South-East Asia. A meta-analysis of observational studies.
Petti S, Mohd M, Scully C Revisiting the association between alcohol drinking and oral cancer in non-smoking and betel quid nonchewing individuals. Cancer Epidemiol. 2012; 36:e1-6
Petti S, Scully C, Ruiz-Avila I How many people do we need to screen to decrease mouth cancer rates in the western context?. Cancer Causes Control.
Petti S, Scully C Determinants of oral cancer at the national level: just a question of smoking and alcohol drinking prevalence?. Odontology. 2010; 98:144-152
Rodrigues VC, Moss SM, Tuomainen H Oral cancer in the UK: to screen or not to screen. Oral Oncol. 1998; 34:454-465
Samet JM The health benefits of smoking cessation. Med Clin North Am. 1992; 76:399-414
Scully C, Kirby J Statement on mouth cancer diagnosis and prevention. Br Dent J. 2014; 216:37-38
Scully C Sources and patterns of referrals of oral cancer: role of general practitioners. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1986; 293:(6547)599-601
Scully C, Flint S, Bagan JV, Porter SR, Moos KLondon and New York: Informa Healthcare; 2010
Scully C, Petti S Overview of cancer for the healthcare team; aetiopathogenesis and early diagnosis. Oral Oncol. 2010; 46:402-406
Scully C, Warnakulasuriya S Cancer of the mouth for the dental team. Oral cancer: comprehending the condition, causes, controversies, control and consequences. 1. General principles. Dent Update. 2010; 37:638-640
Scully C Oral healthcare for people living with cancer. Oral Oncol. 2010; 46
Shetty KV, Johnson NW Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of adult South Asians living in London regarding risk factors and signs for oral cancer. Community Dent Hlth. 1999; 16:227-231
Speight PM, Downer MC, Zakrzewska J Screening for oral cancer and precancer. A report of the UK Working Group on Screening for Oral cancer and precancer. Community Dent Hth. 1993; (10)1-89
Turati F, Galeone C, La Vecchia C, Garavello W, Tavani A Coffee and cancers of the upper digestive and respiratory tracts: meta-analyses of observational studies. Ann Oncol. 2011; 22:536-544
Turati F, Garavello W, Tramacere I, Bagnardi V, Rota M, Scotti L, Islami F, Corrao G, Boffetta P, La Vecchia C, Negri E A meta-analysis of alcohol drinking and oral and pharyngeal cancers. Part 2: results by subsites. Oral Oncol. 2010; 46:(10)720-726
Turati F, Garavello W, Tramacere I, Pelucchi C, Galeone C, Bagnardi V, Corrao G, Islami F, Fedirko V, Boffetta P, La Vecchia C, Negri E A meta-analysis of alcohol drinking and oral and pharyngeal cancers: results from subgroup analyses. Alcohol Alcohol. 2013; 48:(1)107-118
Walsh T, Liu JL, Brocklehurst P, Glenny AM, Lingen M, Kerr AR, Ogden G, Warnakulasuriya S, Scully C Clinical assessment to screen for the detection of oral cavity cancer and potentially malignant disorders in apparently healthy adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013; 11
Warnakulasuriya KA, Harris CK, Scarrot DM An alarming lack of public awareness towards oral cancer. Br Dent J. 1999; 187:319-322
Warnakulasuriya KA, Johnson NW Dentists and oral cancer prevention in the UK: opinions, attitudes and practices to screening for mucosal lesions and to counselling patients on tobacco and alcohol use: baseline data from 1991. Oral Dis. 1999; 5:10-14
Warnakulasuriya S, Scully C Cancer of the mouth for the dental team. Oral cancer: comprehending the condition, causes, controversies, control and consequences. 2. Main risk factors and epidemiology. Dent Update. 2010; 37:710-712
Warnakulasuriya S, Sutherland G, Scully C Tobacco, oral cancer, and treatment of dependence. Oral Oncol. 2005; 41:244-260
Wilson JC, Anderson LA, Murray LJ, Hughes CM Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug and aspirin use and the risk of head and neck cancer: a systematic review. Cancer Causes Control. 2011;
Zakrzewska JM, Hindle I, Speight PM Practical considerations for the establishment of an oral screening programme. Community Dent Hlth. 1993; 10:79-85
Znaor A Independent and combined effects of tobacco smoking, chewing and alcohol drinking on the risk of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancers in Indian men. Int J Cancer. 2003; 105:681-686
A MEDLINE search early in 2015 revealed more than 250,000 papers on head and neck cancer; over 100,000 on oral cancer; and over 60,000 on mouth cancer. Not all publications contain robust evidence. We endeavour to encapsulate the most important of the latest information and advances now employed in practice, in a form comprehensible to healthcare workers, patients and their carers. This series offers the primary care dental team in particular, an overview of the aetiopathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis and multidisciplinary care of mouth cancer, the functional and psychosocial implications, and minimization of the impact on the quality of life of patient and family.
Clinical Relevance: This article offers the dental team an overview of cancer prevention.
Article
There is a huge effort searching for new and improved ways to prevent cancer, not only to avert suffering of patients and their families but also to control economic costs. Mouth cancer is rarely familial, when it may be genetic or environmental or due to risk factor exposure (eg diet or tobacco smoke exposure) but, for example, can be seen in Fanconi anaemia. Previous articles have discussed these risk factors (Articles 3, 4, 5). Mouth cancer is certainly related to modifiable risk factor (eg tobacco, alcohol) exposure.
In general, prevention includes activities – ‘interventions’ – aimed at reducing these risks. These are usually grouped into primary, secondary and tertiary prevention and can be carried out by all members of the clinical healthcare team and others such as health trainers.
The goal of primary prevention is to protect healthy people from developing cancer. Primary prevention is by far the most ideal approach; strategies include education of the public, high-risk individuals and healthcare practitioners and, for example:
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Dental Update and reading some of our resources. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits: