Oral Cancer In Saudi Arabia

Dentists’ opinions regarding the lack of studies and researches about this topic in Saudi Arabia

Dr. Ra'ed Al-Sadhan Associate Professor, Head of OMF radiology, College of Dentistry, KSU said:

Indeed, there is a shortage in research on oral cancer in Saudi Arabia. Multiple factors could contribute to this including: • Under diagnosis: usually oral, tongue and lip cancers are

diagnosed late. The highest incidence for these cancers in Saudi Arabia are in Jazan, Northren Borders, Najran and Jouf which are peripheral provinces with limited access to health care.

• Under reporting and lack of data on the national level. The Saudi Cancer Registry is a population-based registry system that was established in 1992 but only commenced reporting cancer cases from 1994 and the first report was only published in 2006. For comparison, the German cancer registry started in 1929 and in the USA in 1940.

• Under treatment and management, as many of the oral cancer patients do not have access to specialized treatment centers.

• Some of them seek treatment abroad and might not be fully reported and documented.

• Lack of specialized cancer treatment centers in Saudi Arabia and lack of qualified physician and hospital staff.

• Lack of researchers and research centered interested in this field to conduct large scope studies and clinical trials.

• Lack of funding.

Prof. Magdy Kamel Khaled Hamam Professor Oral Medicine (Head of division Oral Medicine/Diagnostic Sciences), College of Dentistry, KSU

said:• No data base • lack of registration

Dr. Manal AlSheddi Associate Prof., Department of Maxillofacial surgery and diagnostic sciences, College of Dentistry, KSU

said:

• There is no data base • There is no cooperation between researchers • No team work (individual efforts) • Oral cancer is not a common in Saudi Arabia

Dr. Kawkab Turk Associate Prof. ,Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Science, KSU

Said:• because there is no data base.

Dr. QuratulAnn Hussain BDS, MSc, PhD, Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Science, KSU

said:• Limited supply • Lack of trained staff • No enough awareness about the researches and how it will be

done • Lack of generic labs with trainers for researching and only

individual labs • No support and fund for non-Saudi to start a research in Saudi

Arabia

Dr.Reema Al-Shawaf BDS, Lecturer / Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Science, KSU

said:• No data base • Dentists are more interested in cosmetic dentistry • lack of dentist's awareness about the importance of oral

cancer records and studies.

Dr.Lujain Hakeem Resident,Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon,KSU Hospitals. Demonstrator in OMFS,College of Dentistry,KSU

said: • oral Cancer is a major public health problem in many parts of the

world. with this issue we are facing, good documentation is mandatory for knowing the incidence, mortality, and survival rates for proper diagnosis and management. generally, these information can be obtain from different sources which include The Surveillance, Epidemiology, Cancer Institute reports, and population-based incidence data.

unfortunately in Saudi Arabia there is a major lack in oral cancer statistics due to many factors which can simply listed as following : • 1- one of these factor is lacking of centres for proper

documentation. unlike USA, which having The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) which reported cases from 1995.

• 2- the process of reporting a case mostly fails due to long hectic schedule of the surgeons. which literature review can be impossible due to lack of cases been published.

• 3- due to different specialties ( plastic , ENT ) other than oral maxillofacial surgery included for proper management , patients usually Scrambling between different doctors, different hospitals which lead in the end losing the patients, either after completing the treatment or after only initial investigation.

• 4- finally, reporting cases need full data. which is difficult to obtain due to inadequate long term follow-up system, which effect proper recording of patient.

This was done for Oral pathology online conference by:

• Asma Al-Owaiwid• Aisha Al-Sanie • Eman Al-Abdulqader • Reem Al-Dhafiri• Shahad Al-Harran

Supervised by :Dr.Dalal Al-Qahtani

You can find more information on Twitter account: opo_conference Hashtag: #oral_path_conf