Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Holistic Approach for the Early Detection of Oral Cancer: A Comprehensive Training Module

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

Oral cancer is significantly high in India, and screening is an effective approach to downstage the disease. Educating Community Health Workers (CHWs) on early oral cancer detection is an effective step toward reducing the burden and serves as a first step toward facilitating the transfer of knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of this hands-on education was to equip CHWs with insight on the advanced diagnostics, preventive techniques, and innovations for the early detection of oral cancer.

Materials and Methods

A total of 178 participants were trained in two groups: Group 1 received training for screening and primary prevention, while group 2 received training on updates in recent diagnostic adjuncts and innovations, AI-enabled point-of-care diagnostics, and essential patient care in management of Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders (OPMDs). Pre- and post-assessment questionnaires were used to evaluate the participants.

Results

The knowledge assessment scores between the pre- and post-tests showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001), with rise in mean score of 3.99 from baseline. Six months following training, knowledge retention revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) in the participants' ability to recall the information.

Conclusion

A well-structured training module can create awareness, impart knowledge and upskill the CHWs for early detection of oral cancer. Retraining of CHWs is required for knowledge retention post-training.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Laversanne M, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I, Bray F (2024) Global cancer observatory: cancer today Lyon, France. Int Agency Res Cancer 149:778–789

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Birur NP, Patrick S, Bajaj S et al (2018) A novel mobile health approach to early diagnosis of oral cancer. J Contemp Dent Pract 19:1122–1128

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Warnakulasuriya S (2018) Clinical features and presentation of oral potentially malignant disorders. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol 125:582–590

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Praveen B, Shubhasini A, Bhanushree R et al (2015) Smokeless tobacco-associated lesions: a mobile health approach. J Contemp Dent Pract 16:813–818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Warnakulasuriya S, Ariyawardana A (2016) Malignant transformation of oral leukoplakia: a systematic review of observational studies. J Oral Pathology Medicine 45:155–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ford PJ, Farah CS (2013) Early detection and diagnosis of oral cancer: strategies for improvement. J Cancer Policy 1:e2–e7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Birur NP, Song B, Sunny SP et al (2022) Field validation of deep learning-based point-of-care device for early detection of oral malignant and potentially malignant disorders. Sci Rep 12:14283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Thampi V, Hariprasad R, John A et al (2022) Feasibility of training community health workers in the detection of oral cancer. JAMA Netw Open 5:e2144022

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Operational guidelines on prevention, screening and control of common NCDs_1.pdf

  10. Nethan ST, Hariprasad R, Babu R, Kumar V, Sharma S, Mehrotra R (2020) Project ECHO: a potential best-practice tool for training healthcare providers in oral cancer screening and tobacco cessation. J Canc Educ 35:965–971

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Patrick S, Keerthi G, Birur NP, Jain V, Raghavan S, Gurudath S, Singh R, Rao P (2020) Knowledge assessment of ASHAs for technology enabled early oral cancer Screening. MJDS 5(1):12–19

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sunny SP, DR R, Hariharan A et al (2023) CD44-SNA1 integrated cytopathology for delineation of high grade dysplastic and neoplastic oral lesions. PLoS ONE 18:e0291972

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Babu R, Dhanasekaran K, Mehrotra R, Hariprasad R (2021) Leveraging technology for nation-wide training of healthcare professionals in cancer screening in india: a methods article. J Canc Educ 36:950–956

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Operational Framework Management of Common Cancers_1.pdf.

  15. Sankaranarayanan R (1997) Health care auxiliaries in the detection and prevention of oral cancer. Oral Oncol 33:149–154

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Mehta FS, Gupta PC, Bhonsle RB, Murti PR, Daftary DK, Pindborg JJ (1986) Detection of oral cancer using basic health workers in an area of high oral cancer incidence in India. Cancer Detect Prev 9:219–225

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Birur PN, Sunny SP, Jena S et al (2015) Mobile health application for remote oral cancer surveillance. J Am Dent Assoc 146:886–894

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Np B, Gurushanth K, Patrick S et al (2019) Role of community health worker in a mobile health program for early detection of oral cancer. Indian J Cancer 56:107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Birur NP, Song B, Sunny SP et al (2022) Field validation of deep learning based point-of-care device for early detection of oral malignant and potentially malignant disorders. Sci Rep 12:14283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Layout of Program : EDUCAN. https://www.educan.asianheadneckcancer.org/public/layoutofprogram#online_modules. Accessed 1 Apr 2024

  21. Hariprasad R, Arora S, Babu R, Sriram L, Sardana S, Hanumappa S, Mehrotra R (2018) Retention of knowledge levels of health care providers in cancer screening through telementoring. J Global Oncol 4:1–7

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank our healthcare workers Sahana S and Shwetha for coordinating, arranging camps and for the smooth conduct of screenings at Primary Healthcare Centres.

Funding

No funds, grants, or other support were received.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, KLE Society’s Institute of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Keerthi Gurushanth, Shubhasini A. Raghavan, Harshita Thakur, Shubha Gurudath & Praveen N. Birur

  2. Integrated Head and Neck Oncology Program, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation, A Narayana Health City, Bommasandra Industrial Area, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Sumsum P. Sunny

  3. Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, NH Health City, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Bhargabi Paul Majumder

  4. Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, Junior Research Fellow, NH Health City Bengaluru, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Pavithra Srinivasan

  5. Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Anela Thomas

  6. Department of Oral Pathology, KLE Society’s Institute of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Pavitra Chandrashekhar & Satyajit Topajiche

  7. KLE Society’s Institute of Dental Sciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Keerthi Krishnakumar, A. Kripa Adlene Edith, Shikha Jha & G. Srivatsa

  8. Biocon Foundation, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    Sanjana Patrick, Lynette linzbouy & Anupama Shetty

  9. Department of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Amritha Suresh

  10. Karkinos Healthcare, Kochi, India

    Moni Abraham Kuriakose

Authors
  1. Keerthi Gurushanth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sumsum P. Sunny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shubhasini A. Raghavan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Harshita Thakur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Bhargabi Paul Majumder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Pavithra Srinivasan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Anela Thomas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Pavitra Chandrashekhar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Satyajit Topajiche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Keerthi Krishnakumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Shubha Gurudath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Sanjana Patrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Lynette linzbouy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. A. Kripa Adlene Edith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Shikha Jha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. G. Srivatsa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Anupama Shetty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Amritha Suresh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Moni Abraham Kuriakose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. Praveen N. Birur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization was done by Dr Praveen Birur N, Dr Moniabraham Kuriakose, Amritha Suresh, Anupama Shetty; Methodology was done by Keerthi Gurushanth, Sumsum P Sunny, Shubhasini AR, Harshita Thakur, Bhargabi Paul Majumder, Pavithra S, Anela Thomas, Pavitra Chandrashekhar, Satyajit Topajiche, Keerthi Krishnakumar, Amritha Suresh, Moni Abraham Kuriakose, Praveen Birur N. Formal analysis and investigation were done by Keerthi Gurushanth, Sumsum P Sunny, Harshita Thakur, Keerthi Krishnakumar; Writing—Keerthi Gurushanth, Dr Praveen Birur N, Amritha Suresh, Bhargabi Paul Majumder. Writing—review and editing was done by Keerthi Gurushanth, Sumsum P Sunny, Shubhasini AR, Harshita Thakur, Bhargabi Paul Majumder, Pavithra S, Anela Thomas, Pavitra Chandrashekhar, Satyajit Topajiche, Keerthi Krishnakumar, Shubha Gurudath, Sanjana Patrick, Lynette linzbouy, Kripa Adlene Edith A, Shikha Jha, Srivatsa G, Anupama Shetty, Amritha Suresh, Moni Abraham Kuriakose, Praveen Birur N. Supervision was done by Srivatsa G, Anupama Shetty, Amritha Suresh, Moni Abraham Kuriakose, Praveen Birur N.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Praveen N. Birur.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gurushanth, K., Sunny, S.P., Raghavan, S.A. et al. Holistic Approach for the Early Detection of Oral Cancer: A Comprehensive Training Module. J. Maxillofac. Oral Surg. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-024-02198-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-024-02198-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation