Oral Cancer and HPV Screening in Wilmington, Delaware - Limestone Dental Associates    

Ten years ago, oral cancer among women, especially young women, was almost unheard of. Patients were usually males over 50 who smoked and/or drank heavily. Now about 25% of oral cancers occur in women – some as young as 19. What has changed?

The answer is human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted disease long known to be related to cervical cancer. This infection will affect up to 80% of sexually active women at some time in their lives. In most cases the body’s immune system clears HPV on its own within two years, but a small percentage of infections fail to clear, putting these patients at risk for cancer. In the past, the main risk was cervical cancer, but due to the increasing prevalence of oral sex, mouth cancers are becoming much more common. They most often occur on the back of the tongue, the tonsils and the upper throat, areas that are not easy to see. That means a tumor can become quite advanced before it is discovered. Early detection is critical to successful treatment.

As you might imagine, this is an awkward subject for us to discuss with a young woman. We think it is important, however, that this information is readily available. That’s why we have added it to our website. For our part, we are getting even more vigilant when we do oral cancer screenings but no screening is 100% fail-safe.  

There is a vaccine that may provide protection against the disease. Its use is somewhat controversial. We suggest you discuss the use of this vaccine with your physician. To learn more about oral HPV follow the links below or google Oral HPV.

http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/hpv-facts