Dentists’ opinions regarding the lack of studies and researches about Oral Cancer In Saudi Arabia

1. Oral Cancer In Saudi
Arabia
Dentists’ opinions regarding the lack of studies and researches about this
topic in Saudi Arabia

2. Dr. Ra'ed Al-Sadhan
AssociateProfessor,HeadofOMFradiology,CollegeofDentistry,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.

3. • 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.

4. Prof. Magdy Kamel Khaled Hamam
ProfessorOralMedicine(HeadofdivisionOralMedicine/DiagnosticSciences),
CollegeofDentistry,KSU
said:
• No data base
• lack of registration

5. Dr. Manal AlSheddi
AssociateProf.,DepartmentofMaxillofacialsurgeryanddiagnosticsciences,Collegeof
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

6. Dr. Kawkab Turk
AssociateProf.,OralMedicineandDiagnosticScience,KSU
Said:
• because there is no data base.

7. Dr. QuratulAnn Hussain
BDS,MSc,PhD,OralMedicineandDiagnosticScience,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

8. Dr.Reema Al-Shawaf
BDS,Lecturer/OralMedicineandDiagnosticScience,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.

9. Dr.Lujain Hakeem
Resident,OralandMaxillofacialSurgeon,KSUHospitals.DemonstratorinOMFS,Collegeof
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.

10. 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.

11. • 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.

12. 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