Free Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Screening

AUGUSTA, GA (PR) - Free oral, head, and neck cancer screenings will be offered at Georgia Regents University in recognition of National Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week (April 20-26). Screenings will be offered Thursday at the GRU Cancer Center and again on Saturday in conjunction with the GRU Oral Cancer Walk 2014.

More than 40,000 people will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer in the United States this year. Of those, only 62 percent will survive five years after diagnosis. The survival rate of oral cancer has not changed in 30 years, primarily due to late diagnosis, according to The Oral Cancer Foundation, the beneficiary of Saturday’s walk.

Students – including those in the Student National Dental Association and the Hinman Dental Society – sponsor the inaugural event. All proceeds will benefit The Oral Cancer Foundation’s efforts to prevent, educate, and support research in oral cancer.

8 a.m.-noon Thursday, April 24: Free oral, head, and neck cancer screenings by Drs. Michael Groves and Scott DeRossi in the GRU Cancer Center, 1411 Laney Walker Boulevard. To schedule a screening, call the Cancer Center at (706) 721-6744.

8 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 26: GRU Oral Cancer Walk 2014: On-site registration begins at 8 a.m., with the walk to follow at 9 a.m. at the GRU College of Dental Medicine, 1430 John Wesley Gilbert Drive. The $20 registration fee includes an event T-shirt. To register, go to tinyurl.com/gruoralcancer.