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HE The survey, published today, was promoted in five countries (Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Turkey) by the European Head and Neck Society, in the âscope the ‘Make Sense’ campaign and the European Cancer Patient Coalition and involved more than 5,700 people.
The study aimed to gain knowledge of the community’s knowledge of the warning signs of this type of cancer, which includes any tumor in the head or neck region, including that of the mouth, tongue, throat and larynx, which kills three people a day in Portugal.
“The survey was carried out in recent months (…) and what has been discovered is that it is really transversal to the different countries that the population is very little alert and trained for these signals, which is scary,” he told the Lusa news agency. oncologist Ana Joaquim, from the Head and Neck Cancer Study Group.
Faced with the challenge of identifying, from a list, the symptoms that correspond to this type of cancer, 58% of those surveyed indicated correctly the presence of a lump in the neck, 38% pain when swallowing, 26% bleeding frequent nose, 21% red or white spots in the mouth and 12% frequent nasal congestion.
On average, only 45% admitted having visited a health professional in the presence of any of these symptoms for three or more weeks, although this is the measure recommended by specialists.
“Situation that worsens even more in times of COVID-19-19, which has alienated people from health services. actually, nearly 30% of those surveyed said they were less likely to make an appointment, “says the study.
These data are of concern to experts, who warn that there may be “a true ‘time bomb’ facing delays in diagnosing this disease, which can be fatal.”
Only 57% and 31% of those surveyed identified that smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages are factors risk factors, despite being the main causes of this type of cancer.
Only one in five participants could identify the HPV, a infection sexual transmission, such as factor risk, and only a quarter knew that being over 40 years old increases the risk of contracting the disease. Only 5% recognized the fact that being a man factor risk.
The results of this survey serve as a motto for different countries to carry out different behavior.
“In Portugal, we are also going to do it to educate people about importncia assess these signals and also the factors risk factors that lead to the disease, ”said Ana Joaquim.
“This is a disease that usually manifests itself and that the person can identify”, unlike other types of cancer, such as bread.ncreas, “and even so the population in general does not appreciate these signs,” he lamented.
Ana Joaquim explained that if the disease is diagnosed early, “the treatment is usually simple” and the cure rate is “80 to 90%”, but if it is in a “later stage, the treatment is much more complex, much more “. mutilatingand the cure rate falls below 50%. “
However, two out of three cases are still diagnosed at an advanced stage.
The survey is published on âscope of the 8th Week of Head and Neck Cancer Awareness, which runs from 21 to 25 September, who abandons the plea: “Beware of head and neck cancer: do not delay and seek medical help in the presence of symptoms; today is the day.”
The campaign is marked in Portugal with the initiative ‘KM Solidários – A step for the prevention of head and neck cancer’, in association with the program OncoMove®, which challenges the Portuguese to do kilometers for the prevention of this tumor, the sixth most common in Europe, with about 160 thousand people diagnosed annually.
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