Oral Cancer Foundation

One of our major areas of focus continues to be on HPV related oral and oropharyngeal cancer research, particularly mechanisms for early detection. We have funded much peer-reviewed science in the last decade, but there is still so much we do not know about the virus. With HPV related oral cancer, the symptomology a patient might notice, or which can be picked up during a visual/tactile screening, is limited. The vast majority of HPV etiology disease does not produce lesions, tissue discolorations, or other signs in the mouth. Current technology platforms do not yet offer any means to reliably detect early stage disease. OCF is continuing to work with leading researchers to validate a mechanism for early discovery.

We are currently working on a public awareness project to educate the American population about the early signs and symptoms of oral cancer, enabling self-discovery. The death rate from oral cancer is very high; about 43% of those diagnosed will not survive more than five years. In the early signs of oral cancer’s development, it is often painless, and the physical signs may not be obvious. This makes it a very dangerous disease. Regular screenings by a qualified medical or dental professional, combined with a person’s understanding of the warning signs and symptoms, will allow its discovery in the earliest stages, when cure and survival are most likely. While an annual screening for oral cancer is important, they are still not commonly done. It is possible that a person will notice a change in their mouth or throat that needs examination between annual screenings.   Once knowledgeable, a person will be able to recognize what previously may have seemed like a minor symptom they might have ignored, and take the next step to get it evaluated by a medical professional. Recognizing these simple red flag symptoms is paramount.

In the world of cancer, one of the most impactful things that can take place is the earliest possible discovery that a cancer or precancerous condition is present. Early discovery yields less morbid treatments, and the early staging of the disease that occurs as a result, often improves long-term outcomes. Today in America, oral cancers are found as late stage disease in the majority of cases, and the opportunity of early discovery is not being capitalized on.

With more than 60% of the American population seeing a dental professional each year (ADA data), and virtually all of them receiving training on oral cancer during their education, we should be able to improve this situation. There are many things that must change to reduce the impact of this disease, but few are as important as early discovery of suspicious tissues, and unusual signs and symptoms. We believe that as our partners in this quest to "Be Part of the Change®”, RDH’s will become the leading edge of early discovery, and the paradigm of late stage finding of oral cancers with its inherent negative consequences for the patient, will be changed.

In addition, we are working on a self-discovery campaign that they hygiene community has partnered with us, involving disposable dental mirrors, to get the word out to the public. Once America’s knowledge of the disease itself and their learning the early warning signs, they should be looking for abnormalities their own. In other cancers, such as breast, self-discovery by women doing their own breast exams has greatly improved the discovery of early stage problems.

Our goals are to make sure the dental hygiene community as a whole is up to date on current oral cancer risk factors, signs and symptoms, and screening protocols. Because of the connection to the HPV virus, there are more things to look for, more questions to ask the patient and more ways to screen than when the only risk factor was tobacco and alcohol. Additionally, through their education, they will spread the awareness to their patients by giving them a guided tour of their mouth with the disposable dental mirror so the patient will see what their healthy mouth looks like. Thy hygienist will send their patients home with that dental mirror so the patient can check their mouth weekly or monthly so if something unusual appears and does not go away after about 2 weeks, they will know to come back in and have it further evaluated.

Along with the community of dental hygiene professionals, we are developing strategic partnerships with for-profit product manufacturers in this industry. These involve not just the obvious companies in the adjunct screening device marketplace, but with other firms whose products are used by hygienists daily. OCF can not do any of this alone, and we are proud not just of our professional partners, but the strategic relationships that we are developing with corporate partners that share our aspirations to bring this disease down as well.

The foundation is a big believer that in order to solve problems, that you have to become engaged where the problems live. The western/rodeo environment in the US has had a long-term relationship with tobacco, and until 2009 The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the rodeos that they sanctioned had a lengthy history of tobacco sponsorship money funding the sport. While that has ended at PRCA events, tobacco use, and smokeless/spit tobaccos still thrive in the sport.

OCF has begun a program to put alternative role models out in the world of rodeo cowboy athletes, with the intention of reaching young people before they make addictive choices that will harm them later in life. The foundation’s messaging is simple and straightforward message - "Be Smart. Don't Start."

In 2014 our first rodeo spokesperson joined OCF; Cody Kiser, a young, personable, up and coming bareback bronc rider. Cody and OCF founder Brian Hill began a program of doing interviews at rodeos or by phone after Cody’s competition in the arena with local print media. The message from Hill, an oral cancer survivor, and Cody, a rodeo cowboy that believed in rodeo as a family oriented event where tobacco wasn’t a contributing part of the mix, was simple. Tobacco eventually brings bad things into your life, and you can be a great competitor and cowboy/athlete without it. The foundation worked with photographers to not only capture the excitement of a wild 8 second ride on a horse that wants to put you on the ground, to showcasing the message and branding that Cody wears on his safety vest and shirts into the arena competition. The idea, particularly Cody’s compelling story of wanting to do good in the world while following his passion of traveling to rodeos to compete each weekend, was an immediate success. That human interest story, coupled with facts about tobacco and nicotine addiction, and the dire oral cancer element, was a story that resonated with people. Almost immediately it attracted national attention in venues like the largest print magazine in circulation in America; Parade, to front page stories in local newspapers like the The Idaho Press Tribune.

Given our early success in the rodeo community, OCF decided to expand our community outreach by adding a second rodeo competitor as a spokesperson. Carly Twisselman is a fierce competitor in the the barrel racing event. As a 7th generation member of a ranching family, she has been around horses her entire life, and has been competing since she was a child. OCF is very proud to have her as a spokesperson in our "Be Smart – Don't Start" program.

Now with two competitors riding exclusively for the Oral Cancer Foundation brand, we expect to have a larger presence in the rodeo world, and reach many more young people with our anti-tobacco message.

Each April, in honor of Oral Cancer Awareness Month, OCF partners with dental offices around the country to offer free public oral cancer screenings to communities across the U.S. 2017 marks the 17th year that The Oral Cancer Foundation has lead the effort to raise awareness of this disease and the need for an annual screening. More than 3,000 dental offices and institutions partnered with OCF this year to offer free screenings to the public in their offices

The foundation has learned that although we accomplish a great deal as an organization, we can do so much more through the formation of strategic relationships with those who share our values and goals. OCF is grateful to the thousands of private dental offices that make time on multiple days during the month of April to offer free screenings to members of the public in their local communities across the nation. Besides the screening itself, these offices provide valuable information to the public related to risk factors and early signs and symptoms. An informed public can engage in self-discovery, which has generated early stage finds in so many other cancers.

In addition to the 1,000’s of private dental offices who will join with OCF this April, a coalition of professional organizations, private sectors companies, and educational institutions have chosen to partner with us. The professional organizations include; The American Academy of Oral Medicine (AAOM), The American Academy of Periodontology (AAP), The American Dental Hygienists Association (ADHA), The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), The American Academy of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology (AAOMP), and The Canadian Dental Hygiene Association (CDHA). Our private sector corporate partners include Bristol-Myers Squibb, Henry Schein Dental, LED/VELscope, and Identafi. The university partners this year are NYU, Penn Dental Medicine, and Columbia University College of Dental Medicine.

Over the years we have screened for free, tens of thousands of Americans in an effort to reduce the high death rate associated with this disease.

Early discovery of pre-cancers and cancer itself is of great importance. Early stage discovery means lower treatment related morbidity to the patient, and better long-term outcomes and survival. With no national policy through medical or dental professionals that is currently engaged in screening for oral cancer at a meaningful level, it is important that private individuals engage in monthly self-exams themselves. These will allow them to discover changes in their oral environment that are suspect, and self-refer to a dental or medical professional for definitive diagnosis of what the abnormality is. Self examination on a routine basis has had huge success in other cancers such as breast and melanoma, and the oral cavity is an area that lends itself to easy examination. Our new national effort launched through a public education web site http://www.checkyourmouth.org teaches people how to do a proper self-exam, gives them examples of the types of things that are worthy of referral to a professional, and ideally contributes to more early stage finds and better outcomes for people who become cancer patients.