The University of Alabama at Birmingham is offering free oral cancer screenings to the public during the last week of April. The screenings, hosted by the departments of Otolaryngology and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, will take only five to 10 minutes to conduct and will include a check for lesions and lumps inside the mouth.

When patients arrive at UAB, they will sign in at the greeting tables. Once they sign in, a provider will bring them back and do an oral screening by examining the inside of the mouth. If the patient needs additional follow-up after their screening, they can make an appointment with a UAB Medicine provider for a later date.

Overall, the lifetime risk of developing oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer is about one in 59 for men and one in 139 for women, according to the American Cancer Society. High-risk factors include tobacco and alcohol use, exposure to human papillomavirus infection, and persistent neck mass or pain in the mouth or throat.

Screenings will be held in the Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital at the following locations and times:

First floor of the Kirklin Clinic in the UAB Medicine Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic

• Monday, April 21, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 22, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 23, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Thursday, April 24, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Second floor of the Kirklin Clinic in the UAB Medicine Otolaryngology Clinic

• Friday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.