Screening for oral cancer with the Pap test is an effective, noninvasive method to spot the disease, according to study by Indian researchers.
Pap tests, traditionally used to screen cervical cancer in women, could have a wider use in the early detection of oral cancer, which is one of the leading causes of death in India, according to a dnaindia.com story.
Dentists from the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Dental College found encouraging results in a study that used Pap tests on the cheeks of 44 patients.
The patients, including those who had developed white or red patches suspected to be precancerous lesions, were studied for three years. The results showed up to 34 patients with high-grade cancer, four with low-grade cancer, and 10 patients were normal.
Pap tests are noninvasive and convenient compared with biopsies, the researchers noted, and biopsies are warranted only if Pap tests are positive.
About 80,000 new cases of oral cancer are reported annually in India, where chewing gutkha, tobacco, and pan masala is prevalent. Mass Pap tests could spot the disease earlier and alleviate high mortality rates of oral cancer, researchers said.
About 150,000 people will be screened in Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Pune between now and March 2015, according to the story. Health officials are asking the media to help publicize the campaign, and large corporations are being asked to screen employees for precancerous oral lesions using Pap tests.
Approximately 640,000 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed worldwide every year, including 42,000 people in the U.S., according to the Oral Cancer Foundation.
