Phone: 518-439-4326 Fax: 518-439-5968
Cancer Treatments
Oropharyngeal Cancer
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer include cancer of the lip, tongue, floor of the mouth, palate, gingiva and alveolar mucosa, buccal mucosa, and oropharynx. Oral and oropharyngeal cancers are the sixth most common cancer among white males and the fourth most common among black males. Males are approximately twice as likely as females to be diagnosed with and to die from oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Males have traditionally had higher incidence rates than females in New Jersey, although in recent years the gap is narrowing due to the increasing number of women who began smoking over the past three decades More than 90% of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinoma. About 5% are salivary gland malignancies, and smaller percentages are melanomas, sarcomas, and lymphomas. The primary focus of a cancer control program for oral and oropharyngeal cancers must, therefore, be on squamous cell carcinoma, the predominant type.
The known risk factors for oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma are log-term tobacco use, alcohol use, immunosuppression, use of betel (areca) quid popular in Asian population, and in the case of lip cancer, long-tern sun exposure.
Tobacco can damage cells in the lining of the oral cavity and upper throat. Smokers are six times more likely than nonsmokers to develop oral or upper throat cancers. About 90 percent of people who develop these cancers use some form of tobacco. People who use smokeless tobacco are at high risk of cancers of the cheek and inner surface of the lips.
Alcohol also can damage cells inside your mouth and upper throat. About 75 percent to 80 percent of people with oral and upper throat cancers are frequent drinkers of alcohol. The combination of alcohol and tobacco use adds to the risk.
Too much ultraviolet light can damage the cells on your lips and increase your risk of lip cancer.
Leukoplakia (white patches on the inside of the cheek or tongue). Most of the time leukoplakia is not dangerous. But leukoplakia can be serious, as some of the patches may show early signs of cancer, and a large percentage of cancers of the mouth occur in areas in which leukoplakia is adjacent. Leukoplakia may result from a variety of causes, including smoking or chewing tobacco products, ill-fitting dentures, a rough spot on an adjacent tooth or cheek-biting.