This application proposes the 6th International Congress on Oral Cancer (15-18 February 1999, New Delhi, India). The program is panned in the context of five previous international symposia, the two most recent having been conducted September 95 (Ogaki, Japan) and September 97 (London, England). The 7th program is scheduled for September 2000 (The Hague, The Netherlands). The applicants indicted more than one thousand scientists from over seventy countries are expected to attend the 1999 conference. Themes of the meeting will include 1) Basic Sciences: incidence and epidemiology, cancer screening and prevention, pathology of squamous cell cancers, secondary cancers, metastasis, cancer genetics/immunology and gene therapy; 2) Applies Sciences: cancer therapy (radiation oncology, surgical oncology, and/or chemotherapy), reconstruction and rehabilitation (surgical prosthetics, esthetics, function, function), controversies (monitoring patients at risk, prognostic approaches), recent advances (drug resistance, risk assessment); 3) Allied Science: social/legal/ethical issues, palliation, pain management of the terminal patient, professional and public education. Since the majority of oral cancers are directly attributable to tobacco use and alcohol abuse, health professionals informed in these strategies can play a critical role in educating the public on risk factors and early detection. If these approaches are effective, many cases of oral cancer can either be prevented, or managed conservatively with resultant high cure rates. Symposia such as proposed in this grant application are thus directed to an important, worldwide human malignancy that can be prevented if the clinician-patient partnership is successful. The applicants emphasize the role of per- and post-conference workshops and training courses directed to health professionals in the early stages of their careers. In addition, attendance by representatives of Third World Countries is encouraged; those attendees will received a subsidized registration fee.
