Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma - One Case, one Argument to Support PIPCO

Case clínic presentation: Male, 64 years old, non-smoker, retired (concierge), send trough PIPCO (Oral Cancer Early Detection [Portuguese] Project) Through the clinic examination is detected a oval lesion, sessil, elevated, limits clearly defined, approximated width 1,5x1cm, hard touch, non-bleeding, yellow-redish, with 3 months of evolution without any trigger. The lesion was documented also in photograph and it was submitted to an excisional biopsy for histologic exam with a squamous cell oral carcinoma as a first impression diagnosis. The dental practitioner are the most privileged physician able to observe the oral cavity in a dental routine appointment, so they are in the front line do detect this kind of lesion in the earliest stage as possible. At the moment, this case is one of the 14 national cases detected among 2500 clinical evaluations, and 320 biopsies, which by itself uphold this kind of project.The oral cancer is rising so prevention is the most important measure that National Public Health can implement toward the better life expectation of the Portuguese population as seen in others medical areas. Keywords: Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Prevention, PIPCO