What is mouth cancer and what are the risk factors?
Mouth cancer is one of the most frequent tumors of the head and neck, in fact when we talk about mouth cancer we are referring in general to squamous cell carcinoma, the cancer that appears in the mucous membranes of the mouth, in the lining that covers the entire oral cavity. The tongue, the cheek, the floor of the mouth, the palate, the gums, are all areas where this type of tumor can appear.
The risk factors most associated with mouth cancer are tobacco and alcohol, especially if they are associated with each other. There are other factors such as chronic and continuous irritation on the mucous membranes or some types of papilloma virus infection can also contribute to the appearance of this type of lesions. Lip cancer, a lesion that usually appears on the lower lip and which, apart from the factors mentioned above, is very often related to exposure to the sun and usually appears in people who work outdoors, deserves a special mention.
What are the symptoms and how is it diagnosed?
One of the factors that plays in our favor in oral cancer is the ease of early diagnosis. The mouth is easy to explore and consequently it is easy for a specialist to detect the appearance of cancer. The symptoms that should make us suspect a cancer in the mouth are basically the appearance of ulcers, erosions, sores, especially if they have indurated edges and last more than 15 days. There are other symptoms, color changes, white spots, red spots, changes in the texture of the mucous membranes, a rougher texture, the appearance of lumps, and other symptoms such as difficulty in swallowing, difficulty in chewing, difficulty in articulating some words. All of them are symptoms that can make us suspect the appearance of an oral cancer. Once your specialist has carried out the clinical history and examination, if a tumor is suspected, we will proceed to a biopsy, which is the taking of a small sample of tissue to send for analysis. This procedure is generally performed under local anesthesia. Apart from that we will perform imaging tests, the one we perform most frequently is usually magnetic resonance and in some cases it may be necessary to perform more sophisticated tests such as a PET-CT scan that allows us to affirm with greater certainty the existence of a cancer in circumstances of doubt.
Treatment and surgery, what do they consist of?
The treatment and prognosis of these lesions depends on their stage, which depends on the size of the lesion, if there is a regional extension towards the neck nodes or if there are metastases, the prognosis will vary greatly in each of these cases. In general the treatment is usually surgery and surgery can vary greatly in size depending on the stage. It can range from small local resections to large operations requiring microsurgical reconstruction of the mouth and face. We now have computerized tools that allow us to plan and perform what we call surgical navigation, which allows us to obtain functionally and esthetically excellent results. Surgery is not the only treatment available to treat cancer, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are fundamental tools in many patients. Finally, a message of hope, oral cancer has an excellent prognosis when treated early. For example, lip cancer is cured in more than 95% when it is in stage 1. If you have the fear or suspicion of suffering from oral cancer, do not hesitate, consult us and get out of doubts.