Sometimes in some persons, cancer would develop on or under their tongues, or on the tissue lining the mouth and gums or on their throat area in the mouth backside. This is oral cancer and must be considered seriously.
It is very important to diagnose the oral cancer at the correct time and get treated properly or else it could be deadly. It has been brought out by statistical data that oral cancer is the most common cancer in India amongst males and fifth most commonly occurring cancer amongst females. The surprising fact is that in India, the state of West Bengal has the highest number of oral cancer cases.
Reasons or causes for oral cancers:
Oral cancer could be caused due to excess use of tobacco or excess alcohol intake, exposure to the sun or due to HPV infections etc.
There are few warning signs of oral cancer we must be aware of and these are
Lumps, swellings and ulcers etc:
Anywhere in the mouth or jaw or neck, a lump might occur suddenly. This is one important sign of oral cancer and must not be taken lightly. It must be noted that when there is any lump in the lymph glands in the neck and that doesn`t go away easily then the doctor must be consulted. It is also necessary to check the presence of red or white colored patches in the mouth though they may not necessarily be a sign for oral cancer. Please be careful.
Sore throat and swallowing with difficulty:
Those with oral cancer would have difficulty in swallowing food, chewing or biting food or moving the jaw or tongue etc. Enough care must be taken by a person when he or she has persistent sore throat for more than 6 weeks.
Numbness and teeth loss:
There are times when a person might feel the tongue becoming numb without any feeling. This could also be due to oral cancer. There are certain reasons for tooth loss and when teeth loss occurs without any reason then it could be a sign of oral cancer. So, please take care.
Unexplained weight loss:
It is normal when a person loses his or her weight by doing some physical activity/ diet control etc. Sometimes, a person might lose body weight even without any reason and this must be considered seriously. It might be due to oral cancer also.
Can oral cancer be cured:
When identified at an early stage itselflf, oral cancers could be cured, Since the dentist or health care provider could easily examine mouth or lips etc, they could often find oral cancer in the early stages itself. It is worthy to mention that almost all types of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas only.