Free Head and Neck Cancer Screening

During Cancer Awareness Month, The Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery invites you to join us for a FREE Head and Neck cancer screening event from 12:30pm to 4:30pm on the second floor of The NC Cancer Hospital at 101 Manning Drive in Chapel Hill.

WHAT ARE THE WARNING SIGNS OF ORAL CANCERS?

The signs and symptoms of oral cancer often go unnoticed. However, there are a few visible signs associated with these cancers that require immediate attention, including:

• A sore in your mouth that doesn’t heal or that increases in size
• Persistent pain in your mouth
• Lumps or white or red patches inside your mouth
• Difficulty chewing or swallowing or moving your tongue
• Soreness in your throat or feeling that something is caught in your throat
• Changes in your voice
• A lump in your neck

WHO SHOULD BE SCREENED?

Every adult. Tobacco and alcohol users traditionally have been considered the populations at greatest risk
for these cancers. However, oral cancer cases are on the rise in younger adults who do not smoke, and
recent research indicates this development is due partly to the increase of the human papillomavirus
(HPV) virus, a cancer-causing infection that can be transmitted by oral sex. HPV-related oral cancers are
more difficult to detect because these cancers usually occur on the back of the tongue or on the tonsils,
providing even more reason to get screened regularly.