Oral cancer education and HIV-associated malignancies

Interest and participation in "oral cancer" education courses has been disappointingly low, probably because of the sparsity and low impact of cases of oral cancer relative to clinical practice. Interest and participation increase as subject matter relevant to clinical practice is included to create innovative programs. Such subject matter has included more coverage of premalignant lesions (leukoplakia and erythroplakia), the role of vital staining (toluidine blue) to aid clinical judgment and biopsy, and utilization of lasers for control. A significant stimulus to encourage enrollment has been the incorporation of AIDS updating and HIV-associated malignancies, which adds identification, curiosity, and interest relative to a well-known and very current health care problem. The greater course participation presents the opportunity to emphasize the importance of oral cancer and clinician roles in prevention, early detection, and management.