Oral cancer which is also known as mouth cancer is a broad term to suggest cancer inside the mouth. It may include the tongue, roof and floor of the mouth, lips, cheeks, tonsils, sinuses and back of the throat. If it does not get diagnosed or treated early, it could be life-threatening.
The most common symptoms of oral cancer are sores, white patches and bleeding. It typically looks like any other mouth problem but the only difference between a normal mouth problem and oral cancer is that the cancerous issues do not go away. If a patient with oral cancer does not get treated at the right moment, cancer can spread to the whole mouth and other surrounding organs as well.
There are several methods to treat oral cancer which include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy etc. Normally, surgery is the commonly used method to treat oral cancer as it involves the removal of the affected part of the mouth. But the treatment of oral cancer can be effective if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage.
Some of the common symptoms of oral cancer can help anyone to detect any potential cancer. Continue reading to know more about the symptoms of oral cancer.
Oral cancer is a serious issue which affects people all over the world. In India, around 80,000 new cases of oral cancer and around 50,000 deaths due to oral cancer are reported annually. Both men and women are affected by oral cancer, but men are more prone.
There are few common symptoms of oral cancer, but these symptoms can be misunderstood by other medical oral issues. The symptoms of oral cancer are listed below:
If detected early, it decreases the chance of oral cancer being life-threatening. Anyone can detect some of the minor changes in the mouth that have the potential to become cancer. A person can do a self-examination of the mouth, throat and neck for any signs of mouth cancer. To self-examine follow the given points:
If you notice any sore, white patches or any unwanted complications, consult your doctor.
If the doctor doubts that the changes in the mouth could be cancer, they will ask the patient to go under a diagnostic test.
These diagnostic tests help the doctor to identify the position of cancer or severity of cancer. Any diagnosis is a must to plan an accurate treatment plan. Some of the common types of diagnostic tests are:
Depending on the area that has been affected by mouth cancer, diagnostic tests may vary.
Diagnostic tests give necessary information about the cancer. The doctor then stages the cancer according to the size of tumour and how much the cancer has spread.
To identify the growth cancer, staging is important. The oral cancer has been staged in the following manner:
If you observe any changes in the mouth including white patches and sores that persist for more than a week, then immediately contact a doctor. Your doctor may ask you to take diagnostic tests for the same as mentioned above, to be certain of your condition.
If diagnosed early, the overall 5-year survival rate of a patient ranges around 85% to 90%. It implies that early diagnosis of mouth cancer can offer a 90 percent chance of survival for more than 5 years after diagnosis. Even if cancer has spread to nearby organs and lymph nodes, there is still a 65% chance of 5-year survival for that patient. Nowadays, as science has developed many techniques to treat cancer, the treatment of oral cancer is very much possible. Some of the ways to treat cancer are chemotherapy, radiation therapy or removal of cancer cells by surgery.
If you notice any of the symptoms mentioned above that persist, then consult a doctor. Con
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