Talk:Oral cancer

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[edit] Re: Signs and tests

Although I have allowed the lengthy exposition on the Vizilite device to remain, I would point out that this section needs a re-write. While there is no doubt that the average dental practitioner would benefit from an accurate and simple screening device for oral cancer, the general readership is not well-served by blatantly unbalanced advertising copy. Readers should be advised that to date, the Vizilite plays little role in the diagnosis of oral neoplastic disease in dental practice, regardless of its potential merit. The jury is still out among members of the oral pathology community; see the following link to a typical post on the topic, dated November 2005, from the Bulletin Board of Oral Pathology Listserv: Re: Vizilte study at USC in 2002. The same could be said of the Oral CDx brush "biopsy" system, and the sad collaboration between its parent company and the American Dental Association-- something that casts a cloud on the ADA's ostensible mission of acting in the public interest. The traditional, and to date the most reliable method of detection of cancer remains a visual, tactile, and radiographic examination of the mouth, lips, and the regional lymph nodes. The only reliable laboratory technique of diagnosing oral cancer is a microscopic examination of a properly obtained and properly prepared biopsy specimen. This fact, however, is nowhere to be found in this section.--Mark Bornfeld DDS 23:18, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

I am in agreement with the above. It may be reasonable to state that the detection and diagnosis of precancerous oral lesions may be aided by special illumination techniques. This would make sense as part of a section on oral dysplasia: screening and treatment of. However, the Vizilite blurb appears to be advertising hype, which has no great relevance to a discussion on oral cancer. Not least is the fact that oral oncology is practiced successfully without Vizilite in many major centres throughout the Western world. As it stands the script implies that vizilite is a sine qua non for oral oncology. This is very misleading.Jellytussle 18:37, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Teeth-related cancers

Should teeth-related cancers, such as the one affecting Novemthree, be added? I think so, but I don't know if it belongs here. --M1ss1ontomars2k4 | T | C | @ 04:18, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

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Hi. It does not really belong here. It would be better to have an "Odontogenic tumors" section instead (which, by the way, is the appropriate name of tumors derived from the tissues that form the teeth).

The reason why this particular case is inappropriate here is that it does not represent cancer. The important point is that there are benign tumors and there are malignant tumors, and the Novemthree case is benign. The distinction is technical; in the generic semantic sense, this tumor was certainly malignant to the extent in which it inflicted damage. However, a true cancer generally must manifest certain microscopic and clinical characteristics. In general, cancers have the potential to spread (metastasize) to remote parts of the body, be locally invasive both grossly and microscopically, and demonstrate the microscopic quality of anaplasia (also see [1].--Mark Bornfeld DDS 12:28, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Surgeries for Oral Cancer"

I have deleted this paragraph. Whilst I think that a more detailed discussion of surgery may be helpful, the deleted section was merely a list of procedures, some of which are non-specific or not strictly relevant to oral cancer, and which were not put in any useful sort of context. The style was poor (use of second person.) I would also contest the assertion that a (functioning) tongue can be reconstructed "from other parts of your body" following total glossectomy. In fact the rehabilitation following total glossectomy is extremely difficult, which is why this operation is seldom performed.Jellytussle 15:26, 17 October 2007 (UTC)