Oral cancer

By Metro Creative

The mouth and throat are vulnerable to cancer. The American Cancer Society reports that, in 2023, about 54,540 new cases of oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer will be diagnosed. It’s also expected that about 11,580 deaths from these cancers will occur this year.

Oral cancers most notably affect the tongue, tonsils and oropharynx, which is the part of the throat behind the mouth. The gums, floor of the mouth and other parts of the mouth also can be affected.

The ACS says the average age people are diagnosed with these cancers is 64, but they can occur in young people as well. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research says overall oral cancer rates have increased by around 15 percent from the mid-1970s despite being highly preventable. Among people aged 70 to 79, those who are non-Hispanic White are most likely to experience oral cancers, followed by Black individuals. Black people have the highest incidences of oral cancers at younger ages.

While data from the ACS indicates incidence rates for oral cancers increased at less than 1 percent per year for women and remained stable from 2015 to 2019, cancers in the oropharynx linked with human papillomavirus infection, a sexually transmitted disease, increased yearly at higher percentages in both women and men during the same time period. That could mean that more education is needed regarding safely preventing these types of HPV-positive cancers.