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Oral Cancer

Home Health and Wellness Dental and Oral HealthOral Cancer

A healthy mouth is about more than just teeth, gums, brushing, and flossing. Changes in your mouth could be a sign of a serious disease. Mouth cancer is not often identified until it is advanced. By then treatment is less effective. This is why it is important to know the risks, symptoms and ways to prevent mouth cancer.

Risk factors

Tobacco products: Smoking or using tobacco products increases the risk, especially if combined with high alcohol consumption. This includes smokeless tobacco, cigarettes, snuff, chewing tobacco, betel quid, paan and areca nut.
Alcohol: High consumption of alcohol, especially if combined with smoking, increases the risk of developing oral cancer.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV): There is increasingly more research emerging that is connecting HPV infection, especially HPV-16, with oral cancers.
Age: People over the age of 40 have a higher risk.
Gender: Men are more susceptible than women are.
Sun exposure: Increases risk of developing lip cancer.

Symptoms

White or red patches in your mouth, on your lips or tongue.
Lumps, swelling in your mouth, neck of face.
Bleeding or open sores that do not heal within two weeks.
Pain or difficulty swallowing.
Feeling that something is caught in your throat.
Hoarseness (changes in the sound of your voice).

How to stay healthy

Quit all tobacco products (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, betel quid, paan).
Limit alcohol intake, especially if you use tobacco.
Use a condom when engaging in sexual activity to decrease your risk of contracting HPV.
Get vaccinated for HPV.
Look carefully at your mouth and lips. Look for changes in colour. Feel for lumps and bumps. Listen to your voice. All could show signs of cancer.
When in doubt, get checked out
See your dentist regularly.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

HPV is a common virus. It affects skin and mucus membranes. HPV spreads by direct contact.

In the past, mouth cancer was seen mostly in older males who used tobacco and alcohol. Recent studies show that HPV is linked to cancer in the mouth of younger people with clean mouths. They often have no history of tobacco or alcohol use.

HPV-related mouth cancer grows in the back of the mouth and throat. It may not be visible, or it might appear as a lump on the throat.

HPV vaccines are available for men and women. For the vaccine, visit your doctor or local sexual health clinic.

Mouth cancer facts

Cancer can appear anywhere in the mouth. This includes the lips, mouth lining, tongue, under the tongue, gums, back of the throat, tonsil area and the roof of the mouth.
Mouth cancer is one of the top 10 types of cancer in Canadians. It is almost entirely preventable.
Mouth cancer kills roughly one in four people diagnosed.
Cancers in the back of the mouth are on the rise due to HPV infections.
Oral cancer is not easy to see. It is often not diagnosed until treatment is less effective.
With early detection, five year survival rates go from 60 per cent to more than 90 per cent.
HPV causes approximately 35 per cent of all mouth cancers.