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fiannotti@planningsource.comRacetrack Oral Cancer Screenings Save a Life, Detecting Hidden Cancer Using High-Tech Device – Renowned "Airport Dentist" Dr. Robert Trager Leads Free Public Oral Screenings at Belmont and Saratoga
HOUSTON, Nov. 25, 2009 — Oral cancer was detected in at least one member of the public who participated in the free oral cancer screening held at Saratoga Race Course in July, which featured Trimira® LLC's award-winning Identafi® 3000 oral cancer detection device, the world's first and only oral cancer screening tool to use a patented triple-wavelength ("multispectral") fluorescence and reflectance optical system.
Identafi® 3000 ultra is the newest, most powerful, and accurate intraoral device available for dentists and doctors to screen patients for early signs of oral cancer.
"You have a lot of people who come from all over the country, especially to Saratoga, who haven't been to a dentist," Dr. Robert Trager said. "Even the ones who have been to a dentist still don't realize what oral cancer is and how deadly the threat can be."
The Saratoga positive oral cancer finding was confirmed after a biopsy conducted by the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine at Storrs, according to Trager, who is renowned as New York City's "airport dentist." Trager, who has offices at JFK and LaGuardia International Airports, has been organizing public oral cancer screenings for the past five years at Saratoga and for the past 25 years at Belmont Park.
Trager and a group of volunteers that included oral surgeons, dentists, and dental students from the Nassau County Dental Society, Suffolk County Dental Society, Queens County Dental Society. and the dental hygiene program at Farmingdale State University of New York's School of Health Sciences also conducted oral cancer screenings at an October event at Belmont Park. Trager noted that at the latter event five suspect cases merited brush biopsies for further oral cancer investigation.
Doctors who assisted in the screening of nearly 100 Belmont Park patrons included Dr. Doran Kalman, Dr. John L. Guariglia, Dr. John Foty, and Dr. Constance Phillips.
Trager pointed out that oral cancer kills someone every hour of every day. "Everyone knows about cervical, breast, liver, kidney, thyroid, colon, or prostate cancers," he said. "Those are the highly publicized cancers, the ones with all the funding. But, in terms of five-year mortality rate, oral cancer is more deadly than any of those other cancers."
In fact, 40 percent of those diagnosed with oral cancer will be dead in five years. Early detection through regular screenings would improve the survival rate to 80-90 percent.
Today oral cancer is growing at double-digit rates, despite declines in the traditional vectors of alcohol and tobacco use. This increase is due largely to the spread of HPV-16 and -18 via all forms of sex, but particularly oral sex. Oral cancer is skyrocketing in the young adult population — again, primarily due to HPV and the oral sex vector.
The racetrack oral cancer screenings were conducted using Trimira® LLC's Identafi® detection device, which features the latest in high-speed, high-resolution optical processing technologies. Identafi® 3000 ultra is a next-generation, portable handheld that incorporates advances in cancer detection from research scientists at The University of Texas, Rice University, and British Columbia Cancer Research Centre.
Trimira® LLC's device is changing the diagnostic landscape for dentists and doctors. Identafi™ 3000 ultra uses white, violet, and green-amber wavelengths of light to excite oral tissue in distinct ways. It enables those on the front line of detection to catch early indicators and stages of oral cancer and pre-cancer that are missed by the naked eye.
Early detection of oral cancer translates into cure rates of greater than 80 percent, which is why the American Cancer Society (ACS) and American Dental Association (ADA) recommend opportunistic screening for oral cancer. ADA estimates that while 60 percent of Americans visit a dentist every year, fewer than 15 percent of those who regularly visit a dentist receive an oral cancer screening.
Trimira® LLC is venture capital-funded by cancer research philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, of oil and windfarming fame. Trimira® LLC sister subsidiaries are developing screening and diagnostic devices for skin, cervical, gastrointestinal, and bladder cancers. Remicalm® LLC, the parent company, has licensed exclusive use of certain of its patents and patents pending for use as a cervical cancer product to be later expanded to include additional epithelial-based cancers. Remicalm® LLC's core technologies are based on high-speed, high-resolution capabilities from its patented optical processing technology platforms and include the ability to read metabolic and physiologic differences in diseased and healthy human tissue.
Visit Trimira® LLC at: http://www.trimira.net/
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