Just over 20% of cases occur in patients younger than 55. However, it can affect anyone. There are several known risk factors that could increase your risk of developing oral cancer. If you use any kind of tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco, and others, you're at a greater risk.
Most cases of mouth cancer first develop in older adults who are aged between 50 and 74 years old. Mouth cancer can occur in younger adults, but it's thought that HPV infection may be responsible for the majority of cases that occur in younger people. Mouth cancer is more common in men than in women.
Overall, the lifetime risk of developing oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer is: about 1 in 60 (1.7%) for men and 1 in 140 (0.71%) for women. A number of other factors (described in Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancer Risk Factors) can also affect your risk for developing mouth and throat cancer.
More than 2 in 3 cases of mouth cancer develop in adults over the age of 55. Only 1 in 8 (12.5%) happen in people younger than 50.
Mouth cancer, also known as oral cancer or cancer of the oral cavity, is often used to describe a number of cancers that start in the region of the mouth. These most commonly occur on the lips, tongue and floor of the mouth but can also start in the cheeks, gums, roof of the mouth, tonsils and salivary glands.
In 2022, it is estimated that a person has a 1 in 252 (or 0.40%) risk of dying from head and neck cancer (including lip) by the age of 85 (1 in 165 or 0.61% for males and 1 in 533 or 0.19% for females).
The most common symptoms of mouth cancer are: sore mouth ulcers that do not heal within several weeks. unexplained, persistent lumps in the mouth that do not go away. unexplained, persistent lumps in the lymph glands in the neck that do not go away.
Cancers of the oral cavity and oropharynx usually take many years to develop, so they're not common in young people. Most patients with these cancers are older than 55 when the cancers are first found. HPV-linked cancers tend to be diagnosed in people younger than 50.
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The good news: If you have oral cancer and your doctor finds and treats it early, it usually is very curable. Oral cancer can usually be detected by a doctor or dentist in a routine mouth exam.
If the cancer has not spread beyond the mouth or the part of your throat at the back of your mouth (oropharynx) a complete cure may be possible using surgery alone. If the cancer is large or has spread to your neck, a combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy may be needed.
Overall, 60% of people with oral cancer survive for 5 years. Oral cancer survival rates are significantly lower for Black men and women. Diagnosing oral cancer at an early stage significantly increases 5-year survival rates.
In the early stages, mouth cancer rarely causes any pain. Abnormal cell growth usually appears as flat patches.
But for oral cancer, most of the cancers will come back within the first two years of treatment. And if somebody gets to five years after treatment with no sign of cancer, the chance of it coming back is very, very low. So in general, we think about a five-year mark after cancer treatment as being cured.
Oral cancer is fairly common. It can be cured if found and treated at an early stage (when it's small and has not spread). A healthcare provider or dentist often finds oral cancer in its early stages because the mouth and lips are easy to examine. Almost all oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas.
Mouth cancer (oral cancer) is not an immediate death sentence, but it can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated early. If oral cancer is diagnosed in the early stages, the survival rate is about 81%. However, many are found in the late stages resulting in a death rate of about 45% at 5 years of diagnosis.
Moreover, the survival rate depends on specific factors, like the cancer stage, cancer location, and the patient's age. The survival rate among people with early-stage untreated mouth cancer is around 30% for five years, whereas the rate gets reduced to 12% for people with Stage 4 untreated mouth cancer.
Early signs of mouth cancer one should look out for include: Mouth sores that easily bleed and do not heal. Loose teeth. Red or white patches on the tonsils, gums, tongue, or the mouth lining.
Most oral cancers are a type called squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers tend to spread quickly.
People with oral or oropharyngeal cancer may experience the following symptoms or signs. A symptom is something that only the person experiencing it can identify and describe, such as fatigue, nausea, or pain. A sign is something that other people can identify and measure, such as a fever, rash, or an elevated pulse.
If the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the overall 5-year survival rate for all people is 85%. About 28% of oral and oropharyngeal cancers are diagnosed at this stage. If the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or the regional lymph nodes, the overall 5-year survival rate is 68%.
The goal of oral cancer screening is to identify mouth cancer early, when there is a greater chance for a cure. Most dentists perform an examination of your mouth during a routine dental visit to screen for oral cancer. Some dentists may use additional tests to aid in identifying areas of abnormal cells in your mouth.
For all mouth (oral cavity) cancers:
more than 75 out of 100 people (more than 75%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more after they are diagnosed. around 55 out of 100 people (around 55%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis.
Survival can vary from 95% at five years for stage 1 mouth cancer to 5% at five years for some cancers at stage 4 disease, depending on the location of the lesion. Stage of diagnosis affects survival, and people diagnosed with mouth cancer at stage 3 and 4 have a significantly reduced prognosis.
There aren't any hard and fast timelines for whether or when oral cancer will spread. Size is more a determinant. For a moderate-sized oral cancer, there is roughly a 20 to 30 percent chance that it has already spread to the lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis.