UCSF Receives $1.2 Million Grant to Prevent Oral Cancer

UCSF Receives $1.2 Million Grant to Prevent Oral Cancer

In a nationwide project to fight oral cancer through prevention and early detection,
the National Cancer Institute has awarded $1.2 million to researchers at the University
of California at San Francisco School of Dentistry to create a program of oral cancer
prevention in collaboration with the American Dental Association.
Oral cancer strikes more than 30,000 Americans and accounts for more than 9,000
deaths each year in the United States. Despite advances in oral cancer treatment, only
about one-half of all people diagnosed with the disease survive more than five years.
“Early detection is the most important approach in decreasing the morbidity and
mortality of oral cancer,” said Sol Silverman, Jr., DDS, UCSF professor of oral medicine
and principal investigator of the five-year project. Silverman is a consultant to the
ADA Council on Access, Prevention, and Interprofessional Relations and a pioneer and
expert in oral cancer education, patient care, and research.
The UCSF researchers will develop and implement a continuing education program
focusing on oral cancer prevention education for practicing dentists in the United
States. Key components will include risk assessment and risk reduction for tobacco
and alcohol use, chemoprevention, early detection, and diagnosis.
Data indicate that the majority of at-risk Americans do not benefit from oral cancer
screening from their primary care professionals, and survival rates have not significantly
changed in the past 20 years, according to Silverman. The plan is to increase dentists’
skills in early detection of oral cancer because, thus far, this is the most important
approach in decreasing morbidity and mortality of oral cancer.