Cancer of the lip cancer or tongue are the most common types of mouth cancer. Less often it involves the floor of the mouth, the inside of the cheeks or the palate. It may also start in one of the salivary glands.

As with many forms of cancer, early diagnosis is important to maximise the benefits of any treatment and to reduce the chances of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body.

Causes

Mouth cancer is usually related to tobacco use. Switching from cigarettes to a pipe or cigars, or using snuff or oral tobacco (chewing tobacco), does not reduce the risk. Keeping a quantity of tobacco in one place in the mouth for long periods is dangerous. It often causes leukoplakia, a well-recognised pre-cancerous condition. Other factors that may encourage the development of mouth cancer include:

• Over-consumption of alcohol, especially spirits
• The combination of drinking spirits and pipe smoking
• Badly-fitting dentures
• Poor care of teeth; especially if they are rough or jagged
• Constant irritation to the tongue from a sharp edge on a tooth
• Chewing the areca (betel) nut in betel leaf (pan)

The combination of alcohol and cigarette smoke is important because the absorption of the cancer-producing substances (carcinogens) in cigarette smoke is enhanced by alcohol.

Treatment

Treatment consists of surgical removal of all cancerous tissue, radiotherapy or a combination of both. When oral cancer is treated early outlook is good, but with delay the outlook is less positive.