Abstract
Oro-pharyngeal cancer is thought to be the sixth most common cancer globally. Most of the cases are at the advanced stage when detected, and the survival rate is still under average. There is no scientific evidence that oral cancer screening is effective in terms of early detection and prevention. In 2016, an international meeting on the early detection and prevention of oral cancer, the Global Oral Cancer Forum, was held in New York cosponsored by the WHO. At this forum, oral cancer screening was regarded as an integral issue for oral cancer. The development of surrogate markers to predict malignant transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders （OPMDs） and adjunct techniques for oral visual screening are key factors for effective oral cancer screening. Opportunistic screening for high-risk groups is cost effective in the dental setting in terms of incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. However, one issue is how to encourage relevant high-risk groups to visit a dentist on a sufficiently regular basis to undergo opportunistic screening in a dental practice. Further research is needed to determine how opportunistic screening may be implemented, and in which health care environments.
