SLU Cancer Center to Offer Free Head and Neck Cancer Screenings

Saint Louis University Cancer Center will offer free head and neck cancer screenings from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 21 in Suite 312 of the SLUCare Doctors Office Building, 3660 Vista Ave.

“The prognosis for survival for patients with head and neck cancer is directly related to the stage of the disease at presentation,” says Mark Varvares, M.D., chair of the department of otolaryngology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and director of Saint Louis University Cancer Center. “The earlier the diagnosis is made, the more likely the chance that the patient will survive.”

Varvares said that the best way to be diagnosed early is to undergo a screening interview and examination, especially if an individual has risk factors for head and neck cancer.

The free SLUCare examination takes just 10 to15 minutes. Physicians will take a brief patient history, ask about potential risk factors and look for cancer which affects the nose, lip, tongue, throat, voice box and neck.

In 2005, head and neck cancers were responsible for an estimated 11,090 deaths. Such cancers accounted for about 3 percent of new cancer cases in the United States.

“More than 85 percent of all head and neck cancers are directly linked to tobacco use,” says Varvares, who specializes in treating head and neck cancers.

Smokers are six times more likely than nonsmokers to develop head and neck cancers. Those using smokeless tobacco increase their risk of acquiring such cancers by about 50 times. Also at risk are heavy alcohol drinkers.

Heavy drinkers who also smoke are up to 100 times more likely to have laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer than are people with neither habit.

Early symptoms of head and neck cancer may include persistent sore throat, difficulty swallowing, hoarseness and/or earache. Other signs to watch for are sores that bleed easily, a lump or thickening in the mouth, sores that do not heal and/or a persistent red or white patch in the mouth.

SLUCare’s free head and neck cancer screenings are offered in conjunction with the Yul Brenner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation and Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week. SLUCare is the clinical faculty group practice of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Patients can schedule appointments for their free head and neck cancer screening by calling 314-977-4440 or 866-977-4440.

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