A MEDLINE search early in 2015 revealed more than 250,000 papers on head and neck cancer; over 100,000 on oral cancer; and over 60,000 on mouth cancer. Not all publications contain robust evidence. We endeavour to encapsulate the most important of the latest information and advances now employed in practice, in a form comprehensible to healthcare workers, patients and their carers. This series offers the primary care dental team, in particular, an overview of the aetiopathogenesis, prevention, diagnosis and multidisciplinary care of mouth cancer, the functional and psychosocial implications, and minimization of the impact on the quality of life of patient and family.
Clinical Relevance: This article offers the dental team an overview of the changing epidemiology of, and increases in, mouth cancer.
Article
About 2 out of every 100 cancers diagnosed (2%) are mouth cancers (oral and oropharyngeal) and these are the most common head and neck cancers. Mouth cancers are mainly oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). Cancers can arise in any part of the mouth, but especially the lip, tongue and oropharynx (OPSCC or OPC). Cancer of the lip accounts for around 6% of cases. The most common cancers are in the mouth, mainly on the side of the tongue, collectively accounting for 60% of cases in 2010. Cancers of the ‘oral cavity and oropharynx’ are classified in the ICD (International Classification of Diseases) and include cancers of the lip, tongue and mouth (oral cavity) [ICD-10: C00-06] and oropharynx [ICD-10: C09-C10] (Article 1).
Oral and oropharyngeal cancers, though not common, are more common than cancers of:
Oral and oropharyngeal cancers together are the sixth leading cancer in the world, with a wide geographical variation, although two-thirds of the cases occur in resource-poor countries, such as countries in South Asia, Latin America and Papua New Guinea and some pacific islands. The incidence rates in Europe are higher in eastern compared with western, northern or southern Europe.
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