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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

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• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

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• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Oral cancer can form in any part of the mouth. Most oral cancers begin in the flat cells that cover the surfaces of your mouth, tongue, and lips. Anyone can get oral cancer, but the risk is higher if you are male, use tobacco, drink lots of alcohol, have HPV, or have a history of head or neck cancer. Frequent sun exposure is also a risk factor for lip cancer.

Symptoms of oral cancer include

• White or red patches in your mouth
• A mouth sore that won't heal
• Bleeding in your mouth
• Loose teeth
• Problems or pain with swallowing
• A lump in your neck
• An earache

Tests to diagnose oral cancer include a physical exam, endoscopy, biopsy, and imaging tests. Oral cancer treatments may include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Some patients have a combination of treatments.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Start Here

• Mouth Cancer (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Oral Cancer (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) Also in Spanish
• Oral Cancer Facts (Oral Cancer Foundation)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Mouth Growths (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
• Oral Cancer Exam (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) - PDF
• Oral Cancer Screening (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Panoramic Dental X-Ray (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Oral Cancer Prevention (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Oral, Head, and Neck Pathology (American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons)

Treatments and Therapies

• Treatment Options for Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancer by Stage (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Living With

• Mouth Dryness or Thick Saliva (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Cigar Smoking and Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Difficulty Chewing (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Also in Spanish
• Mouth Sores and Pain (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
• Smokeless Tobacco and Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
• Swallowing Problems (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (American Society of Clinical Oncology)
• General Information about Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Cancer of the Oral Cavity and Pharynx (National Cancer Institute)
• What Are the Key Statistics about Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancers? (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Mouth Neoplasms (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Tongue Neoplasms (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Effects of long noncoding RNA on prognosis of oral squamous cell...
• Article: Malignant transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders in Taiwan: An observational...
• Article: Clinicopathological characteristics of young never smoker females with oral cavity squamous...
• Oral Cancer -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Dictionary of Cancer Terms (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• American Cancer Society
• Find a Cancer Doctor (American Society of Clinical Oncology)
• Find an ENT (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• Find an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons)
• National Cancer Institute Also in Spanish
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Also in Spanish

Children

• Childhood Oral Cavity Cancer Treatment Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Leukoplakia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Oral cancer (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Swallowing problems (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tongue biopsy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish