Sarah Bush Lincoln Ear, Nose and Throat Physician Lori Cudone, MD, will offer free head and neck cancer exams to the public from 5 to 7 pm on Tuesday, April 14; and from 7:30 to 11:30 am on Saturday, April 18, at SBL’s ENT Clinic in Mattoon.
Dr. Cudone and associates will perform a screening exam to check for head and neck cancers, including cancers of the nasal cavity, sinuses, lips, mouth, salivary glands, throat, or larynx (voice box).
April 12 to 18 has been designated nationally as Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week. According to the National Cancer Institute, there were an estimated 18,050 new cases of head neck cancer diagnosed in 2014 and 13,890 deaths. These numbers include oral cancer, throat cancers caused by the human papillomavirus or HPV, voice box cancer, melanoma of the face and thyroid cancers. If all skin cancers are included, that number rises to over one million. The fastest rising types of these cancers are mouth and throat cancer, which account for over 40,000 cases per year in the U.S. Head and neck cancers account for approximately three percent of all diagnosed cancers in the country.
Risk factors for this type of cancer are age, smoking, chewing tobacco, use of alcohol, poor nutrition and the HPV virus. Early detection of suspicious areas in the mouth and tongue can be done routinely at regular dental office visits and by a family doctor.
For more information or to make an appointment for a free cancer exam, call the SBL ENT Clinic at (217) 258-2409. The clinic is located at 500 Health Center Drive, Suite 401, Mattoon.