What is mouth and throat cancer?
Mouth and throat cancer is cancer that starts in or around your mouth or throat. It could affect your lips, tongue, tonsils, the roof of your mouth, inside your cheeks, or the back of the throat. (Cancer in your voice box or larynx is laryngeal cancer Laryngeal Cancer Your larynx is often called your voice box because it holds the vocal cords that help you make sounds. The larynx makes the bump you can see and feel in the middle of your neck. Some people... read more .)
Mouth and throat cancers may look like open sores, lumps, or oddly colored areas in your mouth or throat
Doctors can tell you have mouth or throat cancer with a biopsy (removing part of the tissue to look at under a microscope)
Doctors usually treat mouth and throat cancer with surgery and radiation
What causes mouth and throat cancer?
Doctors don't know the exact cause of mouth and throat cancer. But people have a higher chance of having mouth or throat cancer if they:
Use a lot of tobacco, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chew, or snuff
Drink a lot of alcohol—your chance of getting this cancer is higher if you drink more than 6 ounces of hard liquor, 3 glasses of wine, or 3 beers every day
Are infected by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that causes genital warts Genital Warts HPV is a virus that causes warts. There are many types of HPV. Some types of HPV cause warts on your skin Other types of HPV cause warts on your genitals (genital warts) Some of the types of... read more and can spread through oral sex
People who use both tobacco and alcohol heavily have an even higher chance of getting mouth or throat cancer than people who use either separately.
Cancer on the lips is usually caused by exposure to sunlight.
What are the symptoms of mouth and throat cancer?
Your symptoms depend on exactly where in your mouth or throat the cancer is.
If you have mouth cancer, you may have no symptoms for a long time except for:
A painless red or white patch in your mouth that can be either flat or slightly raised
As the cancer gets bigger, you may have:
Pain
Trouble speaking
Trouble swallowing
A lump in your neck
If you have throat cancer, you may have:
Pain in your ear or throat, especially when you swallow
Trouble swallowing and speaking
A lump in your neck
Sometimes when you have mouth or throat cancer you’ll lose weight because it hurts to eat.
How can doctors tell if I have mouth or throat cancer?
Doctors may use a special mirror or camera to look in your mouth or throat. They may also do a biopsy. With a biopsy, they remove a sample of your tissue for testing.
If you have mouth or throat cancer, doctors will do tests to see how big it is and if it has spread to other parts of your body. They'll do tests such as:
How do doctors treat mouth and throat cancer?
Doctors usually treat mouth and throat cancers with surgery and radiation. Which treatment to use depends on the size of your cancer and where it is.
Doctors may use:
Surgery to take out your cancer and surrounding tissue (such as the lymph nodes behind your jaw)
If caught early, the cancer can be removed with surgery alone.
Any dental problems should be treated before you start cancer treatment. Cancer treatment may make dental problems worse.
Sometimes surgery changes the shape or look of your face. Doctors will use the latest methods to keep the way you look as unchanged as possible.
Radiation to your mouth may cause:
Loss of taste
Dry mouth
Trouble swallowing and speaking
Dental problems, if your teeth were exposed to radiation
How can I prevent mouth or throat cancer?
To lower the chance of getting mouth or throat cancer:
Don’t use tobacco
Don’t drink large amounts of alcohol
Visit a dentist twice per year for check-ups to take care of your teeth—your dentist also checks for signs of mouth cancer
Avoid too much sun exposure (to prevent lip cancer)
Get the HPV vaccine Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine helps protect against infection by the strains of HPV that are most likely to cause the following: Cervical cancer, vaginal cancer, and vulvar cancer in... read more —it's usually given in childhood or early teens
