What is Oral Cancer and What are its Symptoms?

What is oral cancer?” The question can be briefly described as follows: Oral cancer; It is the growth of abnormal cells in any part of the mouth or lips. The success rate in the treatment of oral cancer cases diagnosed at an early stage is high. Surgical treatment is usually used in this type of cancer. If the specialist physician deems it appropriate, chemotherapy can be applied in addition to surgical treatment.

What are the symptoms of mouth cancer?

Oral cancer can show different symptoms. Because “What are the symptoms of oral cancer?” The answer to the question could be many different things. Below are some common symptoms of oral cancer. If one or more of these complaints persist for a long time, it would be correct to consult a specialist physician without neglecting them.

  • Wounds appear in the mouth or on the lips and the wounds do not heal for more than 2 weeks
  • Color changes inside the mouth, formation of a partially pale appearance.
  • Feeling a swelling or lump in the mouth
  • Shape changes that can be described as a lump or thickening on the cheek
  • Numbness in the mouth or tongue
  • Sore throat and/or feeling like there is something in the throat
  • Difficulty chewing and swallowing
  • Feeling pain in the teeth, gums or jaw
  • bad breath
  • hoarseness
  • weight loss

What are the factors that increase the risk of oral cancer?

What causes mouth cancer??It is not possible to give a definitive answer to the question. However, it is possible to talk about some risk factors that trigger this type of cancer. These risk factors can be listed as follows:

  • Firstly "Is oral cancer genetic??” Let's answer the question. There is no clear data that oral cancer is definitely genetic. However, research shows that genetic predisposition may also be effective in oral cancer.
  • Long-term smoking and excessive alcohol consumption increase the risk of oral cancer. As the duration of smoking habit increases, the risk increases at the same rate.
  • Excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays and obesity are also among the risk factors.
  • Wrong eating habits, weak immune system and other reasons that increase the risk can be listed.

Another factor that increases the risk of oral cancer is not taking care of oral and dental health and not maintaining oral hygiene.