ORCA Study
Oropharyngeal Cancer Early Detection
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The Oropharyngeal Cancer Early Detection (ORCA) Study is the first National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study to investigate oropharyngeal cancer in gay and bisexual men.
Cancer of the back of the mouth and throat caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) is on the rise in gay and bisexual men. HPV is the same virus that causes most cervical and anal cancers. In fact, oropharyngeal cancer is the most common HPV-related cancer in U.S. men.
Fortunately, when HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer is detected early, it has a very high survival rate. The ORCA Study aims to learn more about preventative practices, risk factors, and novel screening strategies to prevent this cancer, but we can’t do this research without you!
ORCA Study Part 1
ORCA Study Part 1
We interviewed a total of 21 physicians, physician assistants, nurses, dentists, and dental hygienists in the Twin Cities and Houston to learn about their current oropharyngeal cancer screening practices.
ORCA Study Part 2
ORCA Study Part 2
A total of 1,699 gay and bisexual men from across the U.S. completed an online survey about attitudes and beliefs about oropharyngeal cancer, as well as risk factors and potential barriers to screening.
ORCA Study Part 3
ORCA Study Part 3
The last part of the study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of “oral selfies” as a possible cancer screening method. A total of 159 gay and bisexual men read instructions or watched a video on how to take a photo of the inside of their mouth, which were graded for quality by multiple healthcare professionals. Check out the instructional video here:
Contact the ORCA Study
Contact the ORCA Study
Email: mwross@umn.edu
Address: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health 1300 S. 2nd St. Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN 55455
The ORCA Study is:
The ORCA Study is:
A collaboration between the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and the University Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Led by Principal Investigator Dr. Michael Ross as part of the Sexual Health Research at the University of Minnesota (SHRUM) program.
Funded by the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute (5R01CA253244).
This research study was overseen by the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board (IRB) STUDY00013973.
Research Team
Research Team
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Principal Investigator:
Principal Investigator:
Institute of Sexual and Gender Health, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical School
Michael W. Ross, MD, PhD, MPH, MHPEd, MSt
Institute of Sexual and Gender Health, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical School
Michael W. Ross, MD, PhD, MPH, MHPEd, MSt
Coinvestigators:
Coinvestigators:
Department of Otolaryngology
Samir Khariwala, MD, MS, FACS
Department of Educational Psychology
Nidhi Kohli, PhD
School of Dentistry
Cynthia Stull, DHSc, MDH, RDH
Investigator Partner
Investigator Partner
Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
J. Michael Wilkerson, PhD, MPH
Consultants
Consultants
Clinical Associate Professor, University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston
Clinical Associate Professor, University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin
Staff in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
Program Director: Gudrun Kilian, BA
Research Coordinator: Sarah Bennis, MPH
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