Doctors were offering to screen patients for any worrying symptoms during the "Understanding Head and Neck Cancer" campaign, which coincides with European Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) Awareness Week, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.
The annual educational effort is now in its seventh year. It runs from September 16 to 20 in selected European countries, including Poland.
The goal is to raise awareness about head and neck cancers as well as improving detection.
Prof. Wojciech Golusiński, originator of Poland’s National Head and Neck Cancer Prevention Programme, has told a press conference in Warsaw that the incidence of head and neck cancer has steadily increased in the country in recent years.
During the last two decades, the number of cases has grown by more than 15 percent, he said.
According to a forecast by the Polish health ministry, the number of head and neck cancer cases nationwide will increase by a further 10 percent in the coming years.
The IAR news agency reported that the five main symptoms identified by a group of European experts are a hoarse voice, pain while swallowing, an unexplained swelling or lump in the neck, nasal congestion, and non-healing sores in the mouth or throat.
If any of these symptoms persists for longer than three weeks, a person should go see a doctor immediately, experts have said.
According to Dr. Bartosz Spławski from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology in Warsaw, the biggest risk factors include smoking, drinking alcohol, lack of oral hygiene, and risky sexual behaviour.
In 2014, around 12,000 Poles were diagnosed with head and neck cancers, and 6,000 died of the condition, the IAR news agency reported.
Poland's government is expected to develop a long-term national strategy to fight all types of cancers under a law greenlighted by the country’s president in May.
The new Polish cancer strategy until 2030 is intended to help reduce the incidence and mortality from cancer and to improve quality of life for patients and their families.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR