2016 AAAS Annual Meeting (February 11-15, 2016)

February 10 - 15, 2016

Oral Cancer: Epidemiology, Mechanisms, and Early Detection

Oral and pharyngeal cancers are the 6th most common type of cancer in the world. In 2014, approximately 145,328 deaths were attributable to oral cancer worldwide. These deaths are particularly tragic because, in many cases, they could have been prevented with early diagnosis and treatment.  The incidence of oral cancer has wide geographic variation and is largely dependent on exposure to several risk factor implicated as potential initiators and/or promoters of oral cancer including tobacco, alcohol, human papillomavirus (HPV) and immunosuppression. New discoveries about the risk factors, catalogues of the genes involved in oral cancer development and progression, and technologies and tools for early detection and visualization of these lesions provide valuable information for improving treatment worldwide. This session shares the latest advances in understanding risk factors, the genetic landscape underlying these cancers, and novel, noninvasive methods for early detection.