Get a quick, Free and Painless 10-Minute Check-up that could Save Your Life!

John Theurer Cancer Center at HackensackUMC, one of the nation’s 50 best cancer centers, is partnering with the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance to bring the community free cancer screenings in observance of the 15th Annual Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week. The screenings will be available on a first come, first served basis on Tuesday, may 1 from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

“unfortunately, 50 percent of people with head and neck cancers have advanced cases by the time they first see a doctor,” said Arie Rosen, M.D., Head and Neck surgeon at Hackensack UMC, and Brian Benson, M.D., Co- Chief, Head and Neck Oncology, John Theurer Cancer Center. “The good news is that a simple check-up can detect the early stages of many of these cancers, giving patients a much better chance for a successful outcome with preservation of function. Don’t let something treatable go untreated, take 10 minutes and get screened.” Oral, head, and neck cancers are a serious problem in the United States, with more than 50,000 new cases per year. if caught early, many of these cancers are treatable, and frequently curable with preserved function. While some head and neck cancers can produce symptoms in early stages such as hoarseness in laryngeal cancer, others can be quite difficult for a patient to detect until they become more advanced. “Head and neck cancers are particularly dangerous because symptoms are often mistaken for other ailments, unnoticed, or completely ignored,” said Kenneth J. Colameo, D.M.D. of Barbieri, Colameo & Berardo, Associates in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, P.C. whose team of oral surgeons will participate in the screenings. “something as minor as a mouth sore that won’t heal or a persistent sore throat or ear pain, while probably nonthreatening, is certainly worth looking into.” Although it is worthwhile for adults of all ages to get screened, there are some people who are at a much higher risk than others. Tobacco and alcohol users traditionally have been considered the populations at greatest risk for oral, head, and neck cancers, however oral cancers have been on the rise particularly in non smoking young adults due partly to the increase exposure to the human papillomavirus (HPV), providing one more reason to get screened regularly. these cancers are particularly difficult to detect because they usually occur on the back of the tongue or on the tonsils, in patients that were traditionally thought to belong to a low risk group, and because the early symptoms can be vague and mimic a throat infection. “When oral, head and neck cancers are diagnosed early, these potentially deadly diseases can be more easily treated without significant complications, and the chances of survival increase significantly,” said Terry Day, M.D., President of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance. “Many Americans do not recognize the symptoms of these cancers, which underscores the importance of everyone getting screened properly, not just those at high risk such as tobacco and alcohol users.” “We are pleased to partner with the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance to offer this important screening event for our communities in New Jersey,” said Andrew L. Pecora, M.D., F.A.C.P., C.P.E., Chief Innovations Officer and Professor and Vice President of Cancer Services, John Theurer Cancer Center. You do not need to make an appointment to participate in the screening, and walk-ins will be seen on a first come, first served basis. The screenings will be held on the first floor of the John Theurer Cancer Center at 92 Second Street in Hackensack, NJ. this event is open to the community, but you must be 18 years or older to participate. for questions, please contact Kaitlyn Ruitenberg at or 201-540-7309. About the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center is among the nation’s top 50 U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals for cancer – the only cancer center in New Jersey with this designation. it is New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive cancer center dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, management, research, screenings, preventive care, as well as survivorship of patients with all types of cancer. Each year, more people in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area turn to the John Theurer Cancer Center for cancer care than to any other facility in New Jersey. The 14 specialized divisions feature a team of medical, research, nursing, and support staff with specialized expertise that translates into more advanced, focused care for all patients. The John Theurer Cancer Center provides comprehensive multidisciplinary care, state of the art technology, access to clinical trials, compassionate care and medical expertise—all under one roof. for more information please visit jtcancercenter.org . About the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA) was established in 2008 to create a coalition in the fight against head and neck cancer. formerly the Yul Brynner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation, HNCA expands on existing strengths to enhance the overall effort in prevention, detection, treatment and rehabilitation. our mission includes public awareness, research, advocacy, and survivorship. HNCA seeks to enable an organized and strategic alliance of all stakeholders to dramatically shift the stage of discovery of head and neck cancers through united and collaborative efforts in prevention, early detection and research.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) — Consider this:

• Lung cancer is the most deadly form of cancer in the United States, killing about 157,300 people every year — more than colon, breast and prostate cancer combined, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
• It is also the nation's second leading cause of death, second only to heart disease.

And yet lung cancer attracts fewer federal research dollars per death than the other leading forms of cancer demise. Doctors have yet to find a reliable method for screening for lung cancer. and new treatments for lung cancer roll out at a snail's pace compared with therapies for other cancers.

So why does the top cancer killer attract so little attention?

Largely because people are perceived to have done this to themselves, garnering little public sympathy, said Kay Cofrancesco, director of advocacy relations for the Lung Cancer Alliance, a national nonprofit group dedicated to lung cancer support and advocacy.

About 90 percent of men and 80 percent of women who die from lung cancer are current or former smokers, according to NIH.

"In demonizing the tobacco companies, we've then demonized the smoker," Cofrancesco said. "So there is that blame-the-victim mentality when it comes to lung cancer patients."

Yet some advances are being made. Clinical trials are being conducted on one potential screening tool for lung cancer, she said. Targeted therapies are being developed based on the genetics of lung cancer.

But clearly more can be done, experts say. Survival rates for lung cancer are dismal compared with other cancers, largely because lung cancer is most often not detected until it has metastasized.

"Some lung cancers have a tendency to spread widely throughout the body," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "By the time they have symptoms, the cancer has spread."

Because smoking is so closely linked to lung cancer, most money aimed at prevention has gone into programs to promote smoking cessation, Cofrancesco said.

These programs have not made a lot of headway. Between 1998 and 2008, the percentage of U.S. residents who currently smoked declined just 3.5 percent, from 24.1 to 20.6 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even as some people quit, perhaps encouraged by strict smoke-free laws and public anti-smoking campaigns, others take up the habit.

Quitting smoking does provide numerous health benefits — improved lung function and decreased blood pressure among them — but former smokers will always have an elevated risk for developing lung cancer. three of every five new lung cancer cases are reported in former smokers, whereas one of five cases comes from current smokers, according to the Lung Cancer Alliance.

"When you quit smoking, unfortunately, your lungs never go back to normal," Cofrancesco said. "You're still at elevated risk for lung cancer and other diseases as well. What's so alarming is there are 45 million current smokers and about 46 million former smokers."

The alliance has begun to lobby lawmakers and politicians to route more research dollars toward detection and treatment of the disease and away from the near-total emphasis on prevention that has been the approach to date, she said.

There's a lot of ground to be made up. Breast cancer research received $28,660 in federal funding for every breast cancer death in 2010, according to the Lung Cancer Alliance, and prostate cancer research received $13,700 per death. Lung cancer research received not quite $1,400 per death.

Research so far has made little headway in terms of detection of lung cancer, though better detection methods have been found for breast, colon and other forms of cancer. Studies have ruled out chest X-rays as a way to screen for lung cancer, Lichtenfeld said.

However, clinical trials are underway to determine whether regular PET scans could serve as a means of early lung cancer detection, Cofrancesco said. Doctors also are researching blood and sputum tests.

The Lung Cancer Alliance suggests that current and former smokers talk with their doctors about the possibility of a PET scan to rule out lung cancer, though such scans have not been adopted as a screening method.

"we recommend you talk with your physician about the risks and benefits of receiving a CT scan to screen for lung cancer," Cofrancesco said. "What can help today is that CT scan, when done right."

The leading forms of treatment for lung cancer currently are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, but researchers are making headway in developing targeted therapies that interfere with cancer's ability to grow and spread. "There's no question they've made a difference for a minority of people with lung cancer, but we've still got a ways to go," Lichtenfeld said.

Along with better targeted therapies, doctors are researching ways to figure out which medications would work best for which patients. "we are discovering genetic markers that can be used to determine whether a person would respond well to targeted therapy," he said.

At this time, though, doctors believe that a combination of improved detection and continued emphasis on smoking cessation is the best way to prevent lung cancer deaths.

"Unfortunately, lung cancer is a complex disease," Lichtenfeld said. "I don't expect we're going to have a breakthrough in treatment."

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on lung cancer.