Signs for early detection of oral cavity cancer

Need to check immediately if the ulcer does not heal after 2 weeks, the tooth extraction is not healthy, the teeth are loose for unknown reasons, difficult to chew .

Oral cavity cancer is the 6th most common cancer in the world, ranking 4th in the male and 8th cancers in female cancers. The incidence of oral cancer increases with age, markedly after age 40, the most common age is 60-70, rarely found in young people. Common places are the tongue, lips, and mouth floor and are less common in the gums, the inside of the cheek, the throat .

Smoke and alcohol are the two leading causes of oral cavity cancer. People who have a habit of chewing betel nuts and floss are prone to cancer in the cheek. Excessive and long-term exposure to UV light in the sun, especially in light-skinned people is prone to DNA damage in cancer-causing skin cells. Poor oral hygiene, improper dentures lead to irritation of the cancer causing mucosa.

Smoke and alcohol are the two leading causes of oral cavity cancer.(Photo: bestwalls)

Oral cancers are ulcerative lesions, scabrous or stiff buds, sticky, unknown limits, painless (pain in late stages or neurological invasion), rapid progression, often metastatic lymph nodes. Local invasive oral cavity cancer rarely gives distant metastasis.

The patient should immediately go to the examination specialist if signs appear:

1. The ulcer does not heal after 2 weeks.
2. Sclerosis, broccoli shoots in the mouth.
3. White / red / black patches in the mouth, tooth extraction is not healthy.
4. Teeth shaken unexplained.
5. Functional difficulties: difficult to chew, speak hard, increase salivation.

Treatment of oral cavity cancer is mainly surgery and chemotherapy, chemotherapy is only support, the goal of treatment is to cure the disease and ensure acceptable aesthetic function.

Early detection of oral cavity plays an important role in treatment and prognosis. If the lesions are small, 60-70% of patients live after 5 years of treatment, the major lesions are likely to survive after 5 years, reduced to 40-50%. If detected late, through the stage of lymph node metastasis, the cure rate will be much reduced.

Stay away from tobacco, drink beer with moderation, abandon the habit of chewing betel nuts, limit UV exposure, good oral hygiene and correct dentures to make mistakes are effective measures to prevent cancer. mouth cavity.

Doctor Le Nguyen Khanh Duy