Re: Oral cancer

[Anonymous]

Brush test’ biopsy, the path breaking technology of detecting oral cancer, has been brought to India and is expected to reduce oral cancer cases in coming years.

The Brush technology is painless and does not involve any incision like the current procedure, Nanavati Hospital Oncology Department head Dr Zahra Hussaini said here.

The specially designed disposable brush is sterile having two cutting surfaces. Brush biopsy collects cells from all three epithelial layers, superficial, intermediate and basal, Hussaini, who is also the director of International Health Continuing Educational Providers (IHCEP), said.

Hussaini, who brought the technology developed by the multinational company Oral, said the sample can be taken by any dentist with an Oral CDx (brush biopsy test).

This is collected by rotating the end of the brush on the affected part of the mouth. Oral CDx is a computer-assistedmethod of analysis of the oral brush biopsy in detection of precancerous and cancerous lesions. The advent of Oral CDx testing has made oral cancer a potential preventable disease, she said.

Oral CDx can prevent oral cancer by facilitating routine painless testing of the abnormal spots that appear in the adult population. "Several years before oral cancer can start, the patient can identify pre-cancerous cells by Oral CDx and thus, prevent development of oral cancer years before it can even start," she said.

"In the last one year, we have trained 2,000 dentists, ENT and head and neck cancer surgeons across India and we expect them to take up the oral cancer detection in a big way so that India will no longer remain number one in having oral cancer cases," Hussaini said.

"The Brush test is a quick and painless method that dentists use to test the common small white and red oral spots that most people have in their mouth at one time or another.

It is used to determine if a common oral spot contains abnormal cells (known as dysplasia) that, if left alone for several years, may develop into oral cancer," she said.

The use of Oral CDx is simply scrapping the area in the mouth and the sample will have to be sent to US for detection using a standard test in the most sophisticated laboratory, Hussaini said.

"Over 25 per cent of oral cancer victims do not use tobacco or alcohol," she said, adding it could be even due to stress, hsarp teeth, bad oral hygiene.

"We are very much optimistic that just like the Pap smear is used to detect precancerous cells to help prevent cervical cancer has drastically reduced the number of cervical cancer in India, oral cancer will also be reduced in the coming years," the oncologist said.

Oral Cancer is a major health problem in India and is estimated that there are about 92,000 new cases of it diagnosed every year, Hussaini said.

Eighty per cent of these are in the late stages. The five-year survival is in the range of 30 per cent (as majority are in the late stages).

"This means that there is a death due to oral cancer every seven minutes in our country," she mentioned.

In the last two months, the doctors have done the biopsy on 250 patients.

"Since for testing we have to send sample to US, we are trying to reduce the cost of the test within a couple of hundred rupees so that people from all strata of the society can get the test on a routine basis," she added.