Last Wednesday, Malak Alhadlaq, a Saudi PhD student at Harvard University, won the Lester Burket Award presented by the American Academy of Oral Medicine for her research through which she found a new way to treat pre-cancerous white changes in the mouth. Alhadlaq presented her research at the Annual American Academy of Oral Medicine Conference in Savannah, Georgia.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Alhadlaq stated that oral cancer is usually preceded by changes in the mucous membrane lining the inside of the mouth, including permanent white patches. These pre-cancerous white patches may be treated by surgically removing them, however; they may return. In addition, surgical procedures come with several complications, while non-surgical methods to remove the white patches are not widely used in the field of oral medicine.
She added that in this research, imiquimod cream which is a medication used to treat certain types of growths on the skin was used as a topical and non-surgical treatment for the pre-cancerous white patches, and the results of the research proved that it is an effective treatment in removing these patches completely or partially. Alhadlaq emphasized that this research offers a new and effective treatment method and that more clinical trials must be conducted to see if imiquimod prevents these white patches from developing into oral cancer after its use.
Once a year, the American Academy of Oral Medicine presents the award to one distinguished researcher in the field of oral medicine in honour of Dr. Lester Burket, a pioneer in this field.
Source: Saudi Press Agency