Carolyn Poirot McClatchy Newspapers | Posted: Friday, December 14, 2007 10:00 pm
Oral cancer will strike an estimated 34,360 Americans this year; 7,550 will die from it.
But it can be stopped before it starts, thanks to the brush test, a screening test that uses a few cells scraped from the inside of the mouth to diagnose precancerous cells so they can be removed before they become malignant. We asked Dr. James J. Sciubba about oral cancer and the test:
Can I get oral cancer if I don't smoke? Yes. Smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco are major risk factors for oral cancer, but about 25 percent of oral cancer patients have no risk factors.
How accurate is the test? The test is 90 percent to 95 percent accurate.
How much does it cost? About $200. It is covered by many insurance companies.
What's the bottom line? Most spots in the mouth are harmless and benign, but about 4 percent are precancerous lesions.