Southcoast Hospitals Group and Northeast Ear Nose & Throat Surgeons team up with Yul Brynner Head & Neck Cancer Foundation on Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week
| For Immediate Release | Contact: Joyce Faria Brennan |
| March 31, 2008 | 508-961-5270 |
| brennanj@southcoast.org | |
 Get this release in Word format |
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NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Southcoast Hospitals Group and Northeast Ear Nose & Throat Surgeons will be offering free head and neck cancer screenings on the Southcoast Health Van on Wednesday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at CVS/Pharmacy, 1145 Kempton St. in New Bedford. Reservations are required for the screening. To register, call the Southcoast Wellness Line at 1-800-497-1727.
"Oral cancer is a major health problem in this country and one that most people aren't aware of," said Wendy Stern, MD, a surgeon at St. Luke's and Tobey Hospitals and a member of Northeast Ear Nose & Throat in North Dartmouth.
"It is vital that people — especially those who smoke — learn to recognize the signs and symptoms of this cancer and our screening offers a great opportunity for both education and a chance for early detection."
Dr. Stern noted that tobacco — including smokeless tobacco — and alcohol use are risk factors for head and neck cancers.
According to National Cancer Institute and the Yul Brynner Head & Neck Cancer Foundation, 85 percent of these cancers are linked to tobacco use. The foundation was created 20 years ago after actor Yul Brynner launched a crusade to educate the young people of the world on the effects of tobacco and its relationship to mouth and throat cancer. Brynner died in 1985 after a public fight with lung cancer.
Head and neck cancers are more common in men and in people over age 50. It is estimated that some 45,000 men and women in this country developed head and neck cancers in 2004. Black males have the highest incidence of head and neck cancers, with a survival rate over five years at 33 percent versus 55 percent for whites.
Some of the symptoms that are common in head and neck cancer include a lump or sore that does not heal, a sore throat that does not go away, difficulty swallowing and a change or hoarseness in the voice.
"As physicians, we need to educate the public about head and neck cancer and encourage people to get regular checkups and to eliminate high-risk habits like smoking," Dr. Stern emphasized.
The screening is sponsored in part by the Yul Brynner Head & Neck Cancer Foundation Inc. in honor of Head & Neck Cancer Awareness week.
To learn more about head and neck cancer visit http://www.headandneck.org/.
About Southcoast
Southcoast Health System is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes the three hospitals that make up Southcoast Hospitals Group — Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast provides advanced clinical services, such as open heart surgery, angioplasty and heart rhythm services, neurosurgery, weight loss surgery, orthopedic surgery and advanced imaging services. Southcoast is a not-for-profit charitable organization that depends on the support of the community to provide services.
More information is available onlinwww.southcoast.org.
Media Contact
Joyce Faria Brennan
Public Information Officer
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org
