Yale Otolaryngology Expands Free Head and Neck Cancer Screenings Statewide

Yale School of Medicine’s Division of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery has partnered with the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance to offer free head and neck cancer screenings across Connecticut during Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week.

This year’s statewide outreach initiative begins April 14, 2026, at Smilow Cancer Hospital in Greenwich. Additional screening events are scheduled for April 17 at Yale New Haven Hospital and April 27 at Smilow Cancer Hospital in Waterbury.

Head and neck surgeon Avanti Verma, MD, assistant professor at YSM, led the effort as part of Yale’s ongoing commitment to cancer prevention, early detection, and community outreach.

“Free screenings create an important opportunity for early detection, particularly as these cancers are increasingly affecting younger populations,” Verma says. “Community-based efforts like this help us reach a broader segment of the public and connect patients with timely follow-up when needed.”

Yale’s otolaryngology team hosts the screenings each year as part of its prevention mission and broader commitment to serving communities across the state. In 2025, the program reached more than 100 patients statewide.

The noninvasive exams take only a few minutes and include an oral health assessment and a physical exam of the head, face, ears, mouth, and neck. Yale physicians and advanced practice clinicians also review symptoms, medical history, and risk factors with participants.

Head and neck cancers make up nearly 4% of all cancers in the United States. While these cancers are diagnosed more often in adults over age 50 and are more than twice as common in men, about 1 in 5 cases occurs in people younger than 55.

Individuals at higher risk include those with heavy tobacco or alcohol use, current or prior HPV infection, HPV-related abnormal growths in the tonsils or base of tongue, immunosuppression, or a prior history of head and neck cancer with new lesions.