Oral Cancer
By Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson

What is oral cancer? Is it really serious? Oral cancer accounts for approximately 3 percent of all cancers. Every year 30,000 Americans contract oral cancer; of those, about 8,000 die. Oral cancers include cancers of the lips, tongue, pharynx, and mouth. These cancers are serious because they occur in the head and neck; treatment of advanced disease can affect speaking, breathing, chewing, and swallowing. Early diagnosis and treatment are key: When these cancers are diagnosed late, only about 20 percent of patients live five years, but more than 80 percent of those diagnosed early survive at least five years.

Always tell your doctor or dentist if you notice any of the warning signs of oral cancer. The most common symptom is a sore or white patch anywhere in the mouth that does not heal or go away. A lump, swelling, or mass in the cheek or neck is another warning sign. Prolonged hoarseness or difficulty chewing, swallowing, or moving the tongue or jaw also should be reported to your health care provider. A sore throat or a feeling that something is in your throat is another warning sign, as are loose teeth, unusual or prolonged bleeding from the gums, tooth or jaw pain, or a swelling that affects how dentures fit. Numbness in the mouth, voice changes, and weight loss also should be reported.

Seeing the back of your own mouth is not easy, so self-examination can be difficult. Each year, ask your physician or dentist to examine your mouth — including the cheeks, lips, gums, palate, back of throat, floor of mouth, sides of the tongue, and lymph nodes in the neck and under the lower jaw — for oral cancer. The tongue is the most common site for oral cancer.

Risk factors for oral cancer include use of tobacco (smoking and chewing) and alcohol. The greater the use, the greater the risk. Prolonged exposure to sunlight may cause cancer of lips, especially in fair-skinned individuals; apply sunscreen or sunblock to your lips if you expect to be out in bright sunlight for extended periods of time. Risk also increases with age: 85 percent of oral cancer patients are over age 50. Men are affected more often than women, and African-American men are affected more than others.

Diagnosing oral cancer requires a biopsy of the affected area and possibly other procedures, depending on a patient's overall condition. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

Obtain additional information on oral health via TROA's links page, www.troa.org/magazine/links.asp.