Lisa Johnson is at her dentist office. "Say ahh."
To find out if she has a growing risk factor for oral cancer...H.P.V., the human papilloma virus. "I never really thought about it until Michael Douglas story hit the news and they started talking about oral cancer what he went through and had he detected it sooner it wouldn't have been a stage 4."
Looking at HPV associated head and neck cancers, the CDC estimates 1,700 new cases a year in women and 5,700 in U.S. men. Twenty-five percent of mouth and 35% of throat cancers are caused by HPV.
"There are folds in the tonsils, the back of the throat, the epiglottis, the base of the tongue, the areas this hides and incubates," says Debra Sabatini,oraldna labs.
Dr. Jack Behn of Plantation is only one of 15 dentists in Miami-Dade and Broward offering patients a simple saliva test that screens for HPV. the cost: $200, not covered by insurance.
"Alright here we go. We should have results back in about 2 weeks."
Among Dr. Behn's patients who've been screened, 10% had HPV 15, the type linked to head and neck cancers. "If somebody comes back we will refer them to their ear, nose, and throat doctor to have a laryngoscope performed to rule out they do not have a tumor. One of my patients had a stage 4 at the base of his tongue."
Alcohol and tobacco use continue to be the main risk factors. Oral cancers related to HPV do have a higher survival rate.
