Oral Mucositis Awareness Day

#OMAD23

 Oral Mucositis Awareness Day takes place on April 4, and is an advocacy effort spearheaded by Enlivity with help of community partners in support of Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Awareness Week and in support of Esophageal, Oral, and Head & Neck Cancer Awareness month.

Young Adults & Oral Cancer

Oral Cancer and side effect awareness is low across the globe. This year ~54,000 adults will be diagnosed with oral cancer in the United States alone. From this group, one person will die every hour due to complications, lack of screening, and limited access to healthcare.

Over the last 30 years, there has been a steady decline in the number of tobacco and alcohol related cancers. However oral cancer cases due to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are on the rise — The fastest-growing segment of oral cancer patients are healthy, non-smoking teens and young adults(ref. 10-11).

Why Oral Mucositis?

Oral Mucositis is one of the most painful side effects of cancer treatment, but due to low awareness, it frequently takes patients by surprise increasing the potential for complications.

Oral Mucositis Awareness

Oral Mucositis is a common side effect of cancer treatment that affects nearly 100% of patients with Oral, Head & Neck cancers, up to 75% of Esophageal cancer patients, and patients going through chemo and radiation for other types of cancer(ref. 1-5).

Oral Mucositis can cause severe complications, treatment modifications, and delays. But despite this, most people, including healthcare providers, don’t talk openly about this painful side effect. As a result, Oral Mucositis frequently takes patients by surprise. Many report that when it comes to managing this side effect, they lack support, information, and many times, care from their medical team*.

*Survey conducted through Savvy Cooperative’s patient population and focus groups facilitated by Patient Authentic.

#OMAD23

Campaign Theme

The theme of this year’s Oral Mucositis Awareness Day is #MoreThanASore — it’s meant to highlight the negative impact cancer mouth sores have in treatment outcomes and in the quality of life of cancer patients.

 

Patients surveyed consistently reported one of the following scenarios:

  1. Their concerns with Oral Mucositis weren’t taken seriously by members of their medical team who frequently told them “Don’t worry, they are just mouth sores”, despite their impact in quality of life and treatment outcomes.

  2. They didn’t fully understand the difference between cancer mouth sores and canker sores, their impact, or how to manage them — patients attributed this to lack of awareness.

 

Oral Mucositis Awareness Circle

The Oral Mucositis Awareness Circle symbolizes the oral cavity and the GI tract where cancer mouth sores develop. The image is abstract by design with the goal of drawing attention to the caption and the stories that are part of each post.