Vision

The vision of the Centre for Research in Oral Cancer is to become a Centre of excellence in Oral cancer research keeping up with high standards.

Mission

The mission of the Centre for Research in Oral Cancer is to intensify the awareness about oral cancer and to carry out research in order to improve treatment and survival of cancer victims.

Message coming soon.

• To encourage researchers to participate in oral cancer and precancer research: this will certainly enhance the vision of the government of Sri Lanka of increasing the national research cadre significantly within a few years.
• To enhance international research collaborations: this will certainly create ample opportunities to collaborate with other leading universities in the world on cancer research.
• To create opportunities for research degrees: there is a serious lack of upcoming research degrees from clinical specialities in the country. We target to enrol at least five PhD students per year. Postgraduate students from fields of study such as Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Sciences, Pure Sciences and Molecular Biology will be enrolled in the doctoral programmes. Therefore this will be a good opportunity to build up interfaculty research partnership to enhance the research output.
• To improve the standards of high-tech molecular work in the field of oral cancer.
• To motivate and train relevant clinicians in early diagnosis of oral cancer and precancer.
• To share research knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of oral cancer between the developed world and Sri Lanka.
• To conduct clinical trials, especially for the prevention and treatment of oral precancer and also cancer. This will lessen the economic burden of having to spend a significant portion of health budget to treat oral cancer.

• To produce approximately 5-10 PhDs per year in the long term.
• Improve the research output of the University by publishing in international indexed journals.
• To publish 15-20 papers per year as the target.
• To have at least 5 collaborative projects with other countries throughout the year.
• To achieve self-sustainability in five years following the establishment of the centre.
• To achieve a significant reduction of oral cancer incidence in the country in 10 years.
• To reach the standards of a recognised centre of excellence for cancer research in 10 years.
• Effective knowledge transfer between the countries in the region.

According to the latest statistics in the year of 2010, a total of 16,963 newly diagnosed cancer patients (crude incidence rate 82.1/100,000 population) were reported to the government cancer treatment centers. Cancers in the breast, oral cavity, cervix, ovary, colon & rectum, oesophagus, thyroid, lungs, prostate gland are among the nine most common cancers in Sri Lanka in the year 2010. According to the National Cancer Registry 2010, lip, oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer were accountable for 24% of all reported cancers in men in Sri Lanka and carrying the highest mortality rate among different types of cancers.

The National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) has targeted to reduce the burden of oral cancer to 15% by the end of 2020, mainly through primary prevention and early detection of oral cancer. According to a recent study conducted in the Sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka, there has been very low awareness on risk factors and early signs of oral cancer: 77% of the population were unaware about oral pre-cancers and 76% were not aware of any of the dangers inherent in the frequent use of areca nut.

The Centre for Research in Oral Cancer (CROC) at the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya was established in the year 2013 to facilitate much needed research on oral cancer. The Centre works very closely with the National Authority on Alcohol and Tobacco, National Cancer Control Programme, and Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention. CROC has a short-term and long-term strategic plan to improve awareness about the harmful effects of the habit, smokeless tobacco and areca nut among relevant health professionals, policy makers and, more importantly, the public of Sri Lanka. This would lay a platform for us to work on bringing new legislation necessary to restrict these products.

Research in the field of oral cancer is completely inadequate for a country which ranks this malignancy as number one. Therefore CROC plans to introduce new research in the area of oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders with multinational collaborations. This will promote postgraduate opportunities for many students. We hope to update our clinicians who treat oral cancer with regards to various aspects of the disease from diagnosis to treatment, with new knowledge gained through research using our patients.