Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

R esearchers from Queen Mary, University of Lon- don have developed a new gene test that can detect pre-cancerous cells in patients with benign-looking mouth le- sions. The test could potentially allow at-risk patients to receive earlier treatment, significantly improving their chance of sur- vival. Mouth cancer affects more than 6,200 people in the UK each year and more than half a million people worldwide, with global figures estimated to rise above one million a year by 2030. Mouth lesions are very com- mon and only five to 30 per cent may turn into cancers. If detect- ed in the early stages treatment can be curative, but until now no test has been able to accu- rately detect which lesions will become cancerous. The current diagnostic gold standard is histopathology – where biopsy tissue taken dur- ing an operation is examined under a microscope by a pathol- ogist. This is a relatively inva- sive procedure and many mouth cancers are being diagnosed at later stages when the chances of survival are significantly re- duced. For patients presenting with advanced disease, survival rates are poor (10-30 per cent at five years). The qMIDS test measures the levels of 16 genes which are converted, via a diagnostic al- gorithm, into a “malignancy in- dex”, which quantifies the risk of the lesion becoming cancer- ous. It is less invasive than the standard histopathology meth- ods as it requires only a 1-2mm piece of tissue (less than half a grain of rice), and it takes less than three hours to get the re- sults, compared to up to a week for standard histopathology. Consultant oral and maxil- lofacial surgeon, Professor Iain Hutchison, founder of Saving Faces and co-author on the study, said: “We are excited about this new test as it will al- low us to release patients with harmless lesions from regular follow-up and unnecessary anx- iety, whilst identifying high-risk patients at an early stage and giving them appropriate treat- ment. Mouth cancer, if detected early when the disease is most receptive to surgical treatment, has a very high cure rate.” DT New gene test detects early mouth cancer risk L ondon-based Chingford Mount Dental Practice has raised more than £1,000 for the Mouth Cancer Foundation. Clinical director, Dr. Raj Gogna, and a group of his practice staff took part in the annual Mouth Cancer 10km Awareness Walk in London’s Hyde Park in September. The team of ten included dentists, dental nurses, treatment coor- dinators and admin staff. “I was delighted with the sum raised and that so many of our personnel wanted to take part”, said Raj Gogna. “The Mouth Cancer Foundation un- dertakes very important work in raising awareness and sup- porting those affected by the disease and we were all very keen to support the event and the Charity”. The Mouth Cancer Foun- dation (MCF) is a charity which is dedicated to the re- lief of sickness and the promo- tion and protection of health among sufferers or those at risk of mouth, throat or other head and neck cancer. DT Practice raises £1,000 for mouth cancer charity Clinical Director Dr Raj Gogna (2nd left) with his team and their medals N ottinghamshire-based dental practice Den- tal 22 has been named as one of the East Midlands’ best employers in the regional final of the National Appren- ticeship Awards and National Training Awards 2012. The finalists and winners were announced at a high profile joint awards ceremony organised by the National Ap- prenticeship Service, which was held at the Pera Confer- ence Centre in Melton Mow- bray. Following the success of Dental 22 in providing NHS dentistry in Retford, the den- tal practice has been recog- nised in the ‘Small Employer of the Year’ business category and was awarded ‘highly com- mended’. Sarah Thompson, Practice Manager received the award on behalf of Dental 22 and said she was delighted to re- ceive the highly commended award. Sarah said “We were one of three finalists out of all the employers that entered and I am so pleased we did so well. We have been open since 1st February 2011 and we have worked hard to make it a success. We are an innova- tive practice who takes pride in employing apprentices”. Karen Woodward, Divi- sional Apprenticeship Direc- tor, from the National Appren- ticeship Service, said: “This year’s awards were a terrific showcase of the outstanding wealth of talent that we have across the East Midlands. Giv- en the volume and high cali- bre of entries we received, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dental 22 for this superb achievement. They are a testament to the many bene- fits Apprenticeships and train- ing bring to businesses, allow- ing employers to tap into new raw talent, up-skill their staff and grow.” DT Dental22 receives recognition at apprenticeship awards L-R Graham Schumacher and Sarah Thompson T he 27 EU member states will spend an estimated 79bn on oral health in 2012 and could be spending up to 93bn by 2020, a new report published by the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe has suggested. According to the report, de- spite a global decline in caries, the disease remains a problem for many groups of people in East- ern Europe, as well as for those from socio-economically deprived groups in all EU member states. More than 50 per cent of the European population is estimated to be suffering from some form of periodontitis, and more than 10 per cent have a severe form of the disease, with prevalence increas- ing to 70 to 85 per cent among the population aged 60 to 65. Peri- odontal health in the EU may be deteriorating owing to an increas- ing number of elderly people re- taining their teeth and an increase in the prevalence of diabetes. Oral cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide, the reportstates.IntheEU,lipandoral cavitycanceristhe12thmostcom- mon cancer in men. In 2008, there were approximately 132,000 cases of head and neck cancer across Europe,resultingin62,800deaths. The report also states that there are inequalities in health be- tween people in higher and lower educational, occupational and income groups, with lower socio- economic groups being more sus- ceptible to poor nutrition and to tobacco and alcohol dependency. In 2010, public and private spending by the current 27 EU member states on oral health was an estimated 76bn. In 2012, it will be 79bn. If the trends continue, this figure could be as high as 84bn in 2015 and 93bn in 2020. DT EU spends 80bn on oral health October 22 - 28, 20124 News United Kingdom Edition