Barriers to early diagnosis and management of oral cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean

Josefina Martínez-Ramírez^{1

2}, Cristina Saldivia-Siracusa¹, Leonor-Victoria González-Pérez^{1

3}, Florence Juana Maria Cuadra Zelaya², Roberto Gerber-Mora¹, Osmani Fabricio Guevara Cabrera¹, Ronell Bologna-Molina^{4

5}, Gerardo Gilligan⁶, Wilson Delgado-Azañero⁷, Arvind Babu Rajendra Santosh^{8

9}, Wilfredo Alejandro González-Arriagada^{10

11}, Mariana Villarroel-Dorrego¹², Bernardo Venegas Rojas¹³, Karen Patricia Domínguez Gallagher^{1

14}, Elena María José Román Tager^{1

15}, Saray Aranda-Romo¹⁶, Gilda Lucía García-Heredia¹⁷, Efrain Cima Garcia¹⁸, Ileana Hurtado¹⁹, Claudette Arambú Turcios²⁰, Leira Patricia Solis Espinal²¹, Rúben Alexander Martínez González²², Ana Carolina Prado Ribeiro^{1

23

24}, Rejane Faria Ribeiro-Rotta²⁵, Luiz Paulo Kowalski^{26

27}, Maria Paula Curado²⁸, Tatiana Natasha Toporcov²⁹, Thomas Peter Sollecito³⁰, Andre Lopes Carvalho³¹, Marcio Ajudarte Lopes¹, Saman Warnakulasuriya^{32

33}, Alan Roger Santos-Silva¹

Affiliations

¹ Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Faculty of Dentistry, University of El Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador.
³ Laboratory of Immunodetection and Bioanalysis, Investigation Group POPCAD, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
⁴ Research Department, School of Dentistry, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Durango, Mexico.
⁵ Molecular Pathology Area, School of Dentistry, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
⁶ Oral Medicine Department, School of Dentistry, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Haya de la Torre SN, Córdoba, Argentina.
⁷ Department of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, School of Dentistry, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
⁸ School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.
⁹ Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
¹⁰ Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Odontología, Santiago, Chile.
¹¹ Centro de Investigación e Innovación em Biomedicina, Universidad de los Andes, Las Condes, Chile.
¹² Oral Medicine, Dental School, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
¹³ Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Talca, Talca, Chile.
¹⁴ Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, National University of Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay.
¹⁵ Pathology Section, Centro Clínico de Cabeza y Cuello/Hospital Herrera Llerandi, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
¹⁶ Diagnostic clinic, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
¹⁷ Servicio de Cabeza y Cuello, Instituto Nacional de Oncología y Radiobiología de Cuba, La Habana, Cuba.
¹⁸ Corozal Community Hospital, Corozal, Belize.
¹⁹ School of Dentistry, University of San Carlos, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
²⁰ The Catholic University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
²¹ School Dentistry, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
²² School Dentistry, Universidad, Autónoma de Nicaragua, Managua, Nicaragua.
²³ Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁴ Oral Medicine Service, Sírio Libanês Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁵ Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, Brazil.
²⁶ Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology, A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁷ Head and Neck Surgery Department and LIM 28, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁸ Group of Epidemiology and Statistics on Cancer, A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁹ Epidemiology Department, Faculdade de Saude Pública da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
³⁰ Department of Oral Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
³¹ International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
³² The WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Cancer, London, UK.
³³ Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.

PMID: 38380784
DOI: 10.1111/odi.14903

Barriers to early diagnosis and management of oral cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean

Josefina Martínez-Ramírez et al. Oral Dis. 2024 Oct.

. 2024 Oct;30(7):4174-4184.

doi: 10.1111/odi.14903. Epub 2024 Feb 21.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Faculty of Dentistry, University of El Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador.
³ Laboratory of Immunodetection and Bioanalysis, Investigation Group POPCAD, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
⁴ Research Department, School of Dentistry, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango, Durango, Mexico.
⁵ Molecular Pathology Area, School of Dentistry, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
⁶ Oral Medicine Department, School of Dentistry, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Haya de la Torre SN, Córdoba, Argentina.
⁷ Department of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, School of Dentistry, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
⁸ School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica.
⁹ Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
¹⁰ Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Odontología, Santiago, Chile.
¹¹ Centro de Investigación e Innovación em Biomedicina, Universidad de los Andes, Las Condes, Chile.
¹² Oral Medicine, Dental School, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
¹³ Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Talca, Talca, Chile.
¹⁴ Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, National University of Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay.
¹⁵ Pathology Section, Centro Clínico de Cabeza y Cuello/Hospital Herrera Llerandi, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
¹⁶ Diagnostic clinic, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
¹⁷ Servicio de Cabeza y Cuello, Instituto Nacional de Oncología y Radiobiología de Cuba, La Habana, Cuba.
¹⁸ Corozal Community Hospital, Corozal, Belize.
¹⁹ School of Dentistry, University of San Carlos, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
²⁰ The Catholic University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
²¹ School Dentistry, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
²² School Dentistry, Universidad, Autónoma de Nicaragua, Managua, Nicaragua.
²³ Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁴ Oral Medicine Service, Sírio Libanês Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁵ Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, Brazil.
²⁶ Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology, A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁷ Head and Neck Surgery Department and LIM 28, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁸ Group of Epidemiology and Statistics on Cancer, A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁹ Epidemiology Department, Faculdade de Saude Pública da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
³⁰ Department of Oral Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
³¹ International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
³² The WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Cancer, London, UK.
³³ Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.

PMID: 38380784
DOI: 10.1111/odi.14903

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore perceived barriers to early diagnosis and management of oral cancer, as well as potential pathways for improvement in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Methods: This cross-sectional study used a self-administered online questionnaire created via the Research Electronic Data Capture platform. The survey was distributed to health professionals trained in Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Dentists with clinical and academic expertise in oral potentially malignant disorder (OPMD) and oral cancer. Data obtained were systematically organized and analyzed descriptively using Microsoft Excel.

Results: Twenty-three professionals from 21 LAC countries participated. Major barriers included the limited implementation of OPMD and oral cancer control plans (17.4%), low compulsory reporting for OPMD (8.7%) and oral cancer (34.8%), unclear referral pathways for OPMD (34.8%) and oral cancer (43.5%), and a shortage of trained professionals (8.7%). Participants endorsed the utility of online education (100%) and telemedicine (91.3%).

Conclusion: The survey highlights major perceived barriers to early diagnosis and management of OPMD and oral cancer in LAC, as well as potential avenues for improvement.

Keywords: Latin America; cancer registries; early detection; oral cancer; oral medicine; oral potentially malignant disorders.

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References

REFERENCES

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Barriers to early diagnosis and management of oral cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean

Affiliations

Barriers to early diagnosis and management of oral cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

REFERENCES

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical