Dr. Catherine Poh

2007 Career Investigator Award, Scholar

Community screening and intervention for high-risk oral premalignancies|,|

Worldwide, more than 300,000 cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year. About half of those diagnosed will die of the disease, typically because of late diagnosis. In this advanced stage, the disease often requires complex and disfiguring treatment which significantly affects the patient’s quality of life and places an economic burden on the health care system. Consequently, preventing and identifying the disease at early stages is key to improving survival rates.

In Vancouver, the Downtown Eastside (DTES) is home to a population at high risk for oral cancer. Many are heavy smokers and drinkers — factors known to increase the risk of oral cancer. A high proportion of residents also have compromised immune status, poor nutrition and oral hygiene, and limited access to dental and medical care.

Dr. Catherine Poh is a clinician-scientist studying oral cancers and precancers. In 2004, Dr. Poh was instrumental in establishing a pilot oral cancer screening clinic at the Portland Community Dental Clinic in the DTES. Launched as the first of its kind in a Canadian high-risk community, the program has since become a permanent part of the BC Cancer Agency’s Oral Cancer Prevention Program.

Dr. Poh is working to reduce the incidence of oral cancer by developing strategies to translate new technologies developed from the Program into this medically underserved community; increasing the understanding of chronic inflammations and infection with respect to risk assessment and detection of oral cancers and pre-cancerous lesions; and identifying barriers to oral cancer screening so effective intervention strategies to increase awareness can be implemented.

Dr. Poh’s research will provide a better understanding of the role of inflammation and infection in oral cancer progression and could lead to the development of new intervention and screening strategies that could significantly improve early diagnosis and survival rates.

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