Head and Neck Cancers Awareness Month
April 06, 2021Head and Neck Cancers Awareness Month
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Information
Dr. Barbara Burtness, Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Disease Aligned Research Team Leader for our Head & Neck Cancers Program, discusses warning signs and prevention for cancer.
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To CiteDCA Citation Guide
- 00:00Head neck cancers are cancers that
- 00:02start in the parts of the body
- 00:05that extends sort of from the
- 00:07nose to the top of the esophagus.
- 00:09So the common ones might be cancer of
- 00:12the tongue or cancer of the voice box.
- 00:20One of the most common symptoms
- 00:22of head neck cancer is a non
- 00:24healing sore on the tongue.
- 00:26Other things might be difficulty swallowing,
- 00:28might have pain in your throat
- 00:30that was always on one side.
- 00:32For many people,
- 00:33it's a painless lump in the neck.
- 00:36Some people develop hoarseness,
- 00:37some people cough up blood.
- 00:39Some people have a ear ache.
- 00:47Older people are at risk
- 00:49for head and neck cancer.
- 00:50It's also the case that smokers
- 00:52are at high risk for head neck
- 00:55cancer and even people who've quit
- 00:57smoking if they smoked a pack a day
- 00:59or half a pack a day for 15 or 20
- 01:02years might be an increased risk.
- 01:04People who smoke tobacco and drink
- 01:06alcohol or at higher risk quite a lot
- 01:08of people in the United States now are
- 01:10getting head neck cancer because they've
- 01:13been exposed to human papilloma virus.
- 01:19We strongly recommend that everybody
- 01:21be considered for that vaccination
- 01:24beginning at around age 11.
- 01:25Both boys and girls,
- 01:27and we're now also recommending young
- 01:29adults up to the age of about 46.
- 01:37The common thing many people be familiar
- 01:39with is when you're at the dentist,
- 01:41the hygienist might take a piece of gauze,
- 01:43wrap it around your tongue,
- 01:44move your tongue to one side,
- 01:46and examine the floor of the mouth and
- 01:48the side of the cheek on that side,
- 01:51and then do the same thing on the other
- 01:53side and palpate all through those areas,
- 01:55making sure there aren't any lumps or bumps.