Oral Cancer
Oral cancer starts in the mouth, and the oral cavity which includes the lips, buccal mucosa (inner lining of the lips and cheeks), teeth, gums, front two-thirds of the tongue, floor of the mouth below the tongue, hard palate (bony roof of the mouth), and the retromolar trigone (area behind wisdom teeth). There were 389,846 new oral cancer diagnoses worldwide in 2022.1 It’s estimated that 59,660 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed in 2025.2
A few risk factors for oral cancer include3:
- Age: Most people diagnosed with oral cancer are >55.
- Sex: Oral cancer is twice as common in men than women.
- Genetic Syndromes: People with Fanconi anemia and Dyskeratosis congenita have a very high risk of mouth and throat cancer.
- Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection
- Tobacco and/or Alcohol Use
- Ultraviolet (UV) Light: Exposure to sunlight for long periods of time increases the risk of lip cancer.
- Being Overweight
To learn more about oral cancer, please take a look through the resources we've curated for you by selecting the area you're interested in above.
