Update from the Cancer Prevention Service: April is Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month

Update from the Cancer Prevention Service:

April is Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month and we are proud to partner with the Head
and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA; www.headandneck.org) to spread the word about this year’s
annual Oral and Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, April 3-9, 2022. All members are
encouraged to host a screening (COVID permitting) or awareness event within your community.

This year, as a part of this, Dr. Andrew Holcomb and members of the Cancer Prevention Service
have been working with Drs. Alex Malone and Samuel Frasier (AHNS Member), and the staff of
the HNCA, to create a mobile device Self-Exam App. This program provides the user with
information on risk factors, as well as signs and symptoms of head and neck cancer and will
walk them through how to perform their own self-exam. It is complete with a lesion library of
normal and abnormal findings and has resources for where to go if there is an area of concern.

In addition, a narrated HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer slide deck, led by Drs. Todd Brickman
and Geoffrey Young, was created, and features these CPS members along with Samer Al-
Khudari and Michael Moore. This 26-minute educational session outlines the epidemiology of
HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer and its typical presentation, as well as appropriate
treatment and associated side effects. Lastly, emphasis is placed on the use of HPV vaccination
as a means for disease prevention.

Finally, CPS Members Dr. Andrew Birkeland, Dr. Deepak Kademani, and Dr. Elizabeth Blair
have led the development of a survey that was disseminated to otolaryngologists and oral
surgeons to evaluated practice patterns for the assessment of oral leukoplakia. Survey results
have been studied and the manuscript is being prepared for submission.

Please reach out to us if you would like to partner on these or other efforts focused on the early
detection of prevention of head and neck cancer.

Sincerely,

Michael Moore, MD
Chair, Cancer Prevention Service

Ann Gillenwater, MD
Co-Chair, Cancer Prevention Service