ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan School of Dentistry, the Michigan Department of Community Health, and other organizations are joining forces to launch a program to promote the early detection of oral cancer and its prevention among residents in three southeast Michigan counties.

Information gathered from the pilot program in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties may later be used elsewhere across Michigan.

Organizations in the network belong to the newly created Michigan Oral Cancer Prevention Network (MOCPN). The Network will bring health organizations, clinicians, professional groups, and community groups together to focus on oral cancer and its prevention. Members will survey primary care providers, partnering agencies, coalitions, and consortia for their knowledge and practices involving oral cancer detection and prevention.

According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, nearly 4,500 new oral cancer cases were reported in the tri-county area between 1990 and 1998. That number was 48 percent of all new oral cancer cases reported throughout Michigan. In Wayne County alone, the number of new oral cancer cases diagnosed during the same time period was about 2,600 and the number of deaths attributed to oral cancer was about 700. The death rate from oral cancer among African Americans in Detroit was one of the highest in the nation, 4.1 deaths per 100,000.

Amid Ismail, U-M School of Dentistry professor who will supervise the Network’s programs and research activities, said: “The tri-county area has one of the highest death rates from oral cancer in the United States. In particular, the death rate from oral cancer among African Americans is among the highest in the nation, approximately 13.4 per 100,000 population, between 1990 and 1998. The Michigan Oral Cancer Prevention Network will stress the importance of early screening by physicians, nurses, dentists, and dental hygienists.”

During the next three years, the Network will seek to expand the knowledge base of oral health care professionals. It will educate and train health care providers to screen and promote tobacco cessation and prevention as well as warn patients treated at clinics about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption. The Network will also organize media campaigns warning youngsters and young adults in the three-country area about the dangers of oral cancer.

The MOCPN will also develop a Web-based database that will collect information on patients who are screened for oral cancer and track their diagnosis and treatment. The database will be accessible to primary care providers, specialists, and hospitals providing care for patients with potentially cancerous oral lesions.

The Network will also survey the curricula of dental, medical, and nursing schools in the state and provide expertise to incorporate information and training on oral cancer screening and prevention.

The $300,000 the School of Dentistry received to launch the network comes from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Others receiving funding to create similar networks include the University of Florida, the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), the University of Illinois (Chicago), and the New York State Department of Health.

The U-M School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction train future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. More information is available at www.dent.umich.edu.

Michigan Oral Cancer Prevention Network Members