Doctors from the Ear, Nose and Throat [ENT] Center of Utah are offering free screenings for head and neck cancer at its Heber offices on Friday, April 25.
ENT Surgeon Dr. Elizabeth Ritter said walk-ins are welcome and no appointment or insurance are needed.
“We're really targeting those people that may have noticed a lump in the neck or a sore throat that won't go away,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Tuesday. “But really, it's for everyone to sort of raise awareness about head and neck cancer. We're specifically trying to raise awareness for HPV-related head and neck cancer. Most people think about head and neck cancer as people that smoke or people that drink, but actually, HPV-related throat cancer has surpassed even cervical cancer in the U.S.”
Symptoms to watch for include a sore throat, a cough that doesn’t go away, a sore in the mouth or a lump along the throat.
Ritter said cancer can affect the throat, the voice box, the lining of the nose as well as the back of the tongue and tonsils.
While HPV cervical cancer has a formal screening test, the pap smear, she said there are no routine screening tests for head and neck cancers.
“Which is why these annual screening tests and just getting checked is so important,” Ritter said. “HPV is a very common virus, I think over 99% of adults that are sexually active have had the virus at some point in their life. The majority of patients clear it with their immune system. But there's these patients that we worry about that cancers that develop from HPV can take 10 to 30 years to fully develop in the tonsils and specifically in the back of the tongue.”
The HPV vaccine is recommended for boys and girls between the ages of nine and 12 before they become sexually active.
The Heber Valley ENT Center is offering free screenings Friday, April 25 at 1716 North Highway 40 Suite 100 from 9 a.m. to noon.
*** Editors note: For clarification, Heber Valley Clinic was changed to Heber Valley ENT Center.
