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American Cancer Society Film “ Oral Cancer: the Problem of Early Diagnosis ” 70174 (1949)

1949 · Short film · 25 min

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Synopsis

This 1947 film outlines the responsibility of physicians and dentists in early recognition of oral cancer. Interestingly, it does not probe the causes of oral cancer, such as cigarette smoking, as at the time it was produced a causal link had yet to be firmly established. The film was sponsored by the American Cancer Society (:22) and produced by Audio Productions Inc (:36). The film opens with a 48-year-old patient whom has a white lesion on his tongue which proved to be a papillary tumor (:57). During his routine dental check, the lesion aroused suspicion (1:24) and a pathological examination confirmed this suspicion (1:29). Since it was found early enough, the patient’s cure rate was high and this points to the necessity of early recognition of oral cancer (1:53). It is the responsibility of dentists as well as physicians to recognize the lesions (2:05). The film then presents the six common sites of oral cancer which include the gingiva, palate, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth and the lips (2:09). Despite the fact that these locations are all susceptible to early diagnosis, the majority of the lesions are not recognized early enough for satisfactory treatment (2:38). The five-year cure percentage rates of any size lesion found in these locations follow (2:50) and the overall percentage rate is 32 ½% (3:17). The five-year cure rate percentages of lesions in these areas that are less than 2cm are then provided (3:32) with the overall percentage rate being 57% (4:04). A…

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Running time
25 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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