All but the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center grant are co-funded by the National Cancer Institute. The need for the centers is underscored by the fact that survival rates for oral cancer have not improved significantly over the past 30 years.
Oral cancer claims the life of one American every hour.
Oral cancer usually occurs in people over age 40, but can develop at any age. It is twice as common in men as in women, and occurs more frequently in African Americans than in whites. Our goal is to reduce the behavioral and environmental risk factors for oral cancer, while we tackle what can be done at the molecular and genetic level to prevent or reverse the cancer process. The new oral cancer research centers will take a multidisciplinary approach, including not only basic research, but also clinical investigations and rehabilitation to help patients return to normal activities. One of the projects will look at the effect of nutrition on the development of oral tumors.