Prevention and Screening

Stop High-Risk Behaviors

Two actions would prevent most cases of oral cancer: stopping the use of alcohol and tobacco. Five to 10 years after a person stops smoking, his or her risk of oral cancer drops to that of a lifelong nonsmoker. Fortunately, the use of cigarettes has decreased in the United States. Unfortunately -- despite health warnings, labeling, advertising laws, and state tax increases on tobacco products -- the use of smokeless tobacco has increased.

Learn to Detect Oral Cancer

If oral cancer is recognized and treated when it is in an early stage, the chance of a complete cure is good. Therefore, minimizing the risk involves early detection. The signs of oral cancer include:

• pain and bleeding from the mouth
• ear pain (which occurs when cancers in the mouth cause "referred pain" elsewhere in the head, along nerve pathways)
• difficulty swallowing
• difficulty speaking clearly.

Unfortunately, studies have shown that people have very little awareness of the problem of oral cavity cancer, thus making early detection and improving the cure rate very difficult.