Fight Oral Cancer with CRMY’s Digital Health Team

Mouth Cancer Action Month is held in November every year and is supported by the Mouth Cancer Foundation and the Oral Health Foundation.

As November comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the importance of Mouth Cancer Action Month and its key message: the life-saving potential of early detection.
Mouth cancer can affect parts of the mouth like the lips, tongue, gums, and, if not caught early, can be challenging to treat. Early detection is key for successful treatment, but awareness and access to screening can be limited, especially in rural areas.

This effort ties in with our “Support Our Scientists” (SOS) campaign, which aims to highlight the work of scientists who are making early detection possible through innovative research. Leading this work from our Digital Health Unit are Dr Senthilmani Rajendran and Nur Dinie Junaidi, two researchers testing the use MeMoSA® (Mobile Mouth Screening Anywhere), a mobile app that brings early mouth cancer detection in rural and underserved communities.

CRMY’s Digital Health Unit is focused on finding innovative ways to catch cancers early, especially the types most common in Asian communities. MeMoSA® helps to detect oral cancer early by allowing trained healthcare volunteers to take images of the mouth and send them to dental specialists for review. This way, people in remote areas don’t have to travel far for a check-up, and potential problems can be caught sooner.

October 2024 – Dr Senthilmani (sitting on the left) with Dr Misah Md Ramli (sitting, second from the left) State Deputy Director (Dental) Ministry of Health, Sarawak discussing the expansion of MeMoSA® in Sarawak

Dentist to Digital Health Researcher

Dr Senthilmani, with a background in dentistry and health informatics, wanted to make a bigger impact by helping people access early cancer detection. Her current focus is on the MeMoSA® app, which allows trained healthcare volunteers to capture data and photos of people’s mouths in remote villages and send them to specialists for review.

Many villagers don’t have regular dental care and often unaware about the early signs of oral cancer. The MeMoSA® app helps fill this gap, allowing health volunteers to screen people in remote areas who otherwise wouldn’t get checked.

Training on the MeMoSA® app with healthcare volunteers

“Most villagers don’t consider oral cancer a threat, so they rarely go for check-ups. With MeMoSA®, we can reach people who wouldn’t normally be screened.” – Dr Senthilmani

Awareness about oral cancer is still low, which affects how many participate in screening campaigns. To help change this, Dr Senthilmani’s team trains volunteers to educate communities about the risks of oral cancer and the importance of early detection. While participation is improving, she stresses that public support is key to making a bigger impact.

Presenting MeMoSA® to Kg Batu Spit’s village head and his village committee

From Criminology to Connecting Communities

Dinie, who studied Anthropology, Sociology, Criminology, and Forensic Psychology, brings a unique perspective to her work and has always been passionate about community engagement. Her interest in community involvement has driven her focus on addressing social barriers to screening, especially in regions where people might distrust healthcare services. She explains that one of the key obstacles is convincing community members of the value of screening. Many villagers believe they don’t need screening as long as they feel healthy, even though certain lifestyle habits, like betel nut chewing and tobacco use, increase their risk.

Dinie (on the right) with Kg Batu Spit’s village head and his village committee

Working with volunteers from these communities, Dinie helps make the screening process more familiar and trustworthy. “When people are approached by volunteers they know , they’re more likely to get screened too,” she explains. By supporting tools like MeMoSA®, we can make early detection accessible to everyone.

Why Your Support Matters

Oral cancer is a major health concern in Asia, where over 60% of global oral cancer cases occur.
The work of Dr Senthilmani, Dinie, and their team has real potential to save lives by catching cancer early. Through CRMY’s SOS campaign, donations go directly to supporting their research, helping develop and expand tools like MeMoSA® for better access to early detection.

our support enables us to continue our research, develop innovative treatments, and ultimately save lives. Donate now and be a part of a brighter future.