April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

By Dr. Mahnaz Fatahzadeh

American Cancer Society estimates nearly 58,450 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer in 2024. This translates into 145 new diagnosis each day, 1 death per hour and over 12,230 lives lost each year. The anatomical areas included in this estimate are the salivary glands, oral cavity, oropharynx and lip vermilion. While tobacco and alcohol are the well-known risk factors for the oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma, infection with HPV16 has emerged as the primary driver of these cancers in oropharynx. The incidence of oropharyngeal cancer has also dramatically increased in recent years particularly among white males. In fact, the number of HPV-attributable oropharyngeal cancers in males has surpassed cervical cancer in females caused by any carcinogenic strain of human papillomavirus.

Diagnosis of oral cancer in early stages has a favorable impact on its prognosis. In contrast, those with advanced oral cancer often require aggressive therapy, suffer significant morbidity and have poor survival. Oral health professionals can play a critical role in the prevention and early detection of oral cancer by educating their patients about traditional and emerging risk factors as well as signs and symptoms of this malignancy, performing oral cancer screening for all new and recall patients and encouraging HPV vaccination.

References: American Cancer Society, CDC & Oral Cancer Foundation