More than 50,000 Americans will be diagnosed with cancer of the head and neck this year.
We now have tools to prevent these cancers.
Hello!
I am Dr. Lidia Schapira, and I am a medical oncologist and Professor of Medicine at Stanford
University.
Today, we will be focusing on cancers that occur in the head and neck, also called oral
and oropharyngeal cancers.
In this video, we’ll review the risk factors for oral cancer, steps you can take to protect
yourself from oral cancer, and some of the treatment options that are available for oral
cancer.
Oral cancer affects the mouth and this includes the lips, the insides of the cheeks, the gums,
the floor and roof of the mouth, and most of the tongue as well.
Oropharyngeal cancers are those that develop in the area that is behind the mouth.
The oropharynx includes the throat, the base of the tongue and tonsils.
Many of these tumors start in flat squamous cells that form the surface layer of tissue
inside the head and neck.
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer is becoming more common.
From 2008 to 2017, the number of oral and oropharyngeal cancers increased by roughly
1% every year.
This means that more people are diagnosed and going through treatment, and while many
are cured, there are also more people who have died from this disease..
The single largest risk factor for oral and oropharyngeal cancer has and continues to
be the use of tobacco products.
This includes smoking cigarettes, cigars, or pipes, or using chewing tobacco or snuff.
The connection is strong -- eighty-five percent of oral and oropharyngeal cancers have been
linked to tobacco use.
Stopping the use of all tobacco products is important, and is the best way to reduce your
risk.
Even if you have been using tobacco for years, stopping now can reduce your chances of developing
oral cancer.
Heavy and frequent alcohol consumption can also increase the risk for developing oral
cancer, and this effect is even more pronounced if alcohol and tobacco are used together.
There is another risk factor that is unrelated to smoking or drinking alcohol, and that is
a viral infection with the human papillomavirus.
The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a common virus and a risk factor for oropharyngeal
cancer.
In recent years, HPV related oropharyngeal cancer in the tonsils and the base of the
tongue has become more common.
Sexual activity, including oral sex, with someone who has HPV is the most common way
that someone gets HPV.
There are a number of steps you can take to reduce your risk of HPV infection.Having many
partners increases the risk of HPV infection and using condoms does not offer full protection.
Limiting the number of sexual partners offers some protection.
Another preventative step is to receive an HPV before becoming exposed to the virus.
The CDC recommends routine HPV vaccination for children as young as 9 and for adults
45 and younger, and most doctors recommend it for everyone up to the age of 26.
Once a cancer has formed, it is important to make the diagnosis as soon as possible.
If oral cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, it can often be cured and the prognosis is
very good, but if it has spread to surrounding tissues or organs, the prognosis is less favorable.
Catching the cancer early gives a patient many options for treatment.
The healthcare team that takes care of a person with head and neck cancer includes several
different specialists and therapists.
With oral cancer, the primary goal of treatment is to cure the cancer and preserve the function
of the organs and a person’s quality of life.
That is why we need a team that works with the patient to prioritize how the person feels,
looks, talks, eats, swallows and breathes.
The cancer treatment team includes a medical oncologist -- a doctor who treats cancer using
chemotherapy or other medicines, a radiation oncologist -- a doctor who uses radiation
therapy to treat cancer, and a surgical oncologist -- who, with increasing advancements in surgical
technique, can often perform minimally-invasive surgeries to remove the cancer.
Once this core group of cancer doctors work to remove the cancer, another team will work
with survivors to provide specialized care.
This might include reconstructive plastic surgeons and specialized dentists, speech-language
pathologists -- who can help patients regain their ability to speak and swallow, audiologists
-- who can work with patients on any hearing problems caused by an oral cancer or its treatment,
and psychologists and psychiatrists -- who can help patients and their families work
through the emotional, psychological, and behavioral challenges that might be associated
with going through the process of recovering from oral or oropharyngeal cancer.
I hope that watching has given you more information about what oral cancer is, what risk factors
make someone more likely to develop it, and what steps we can take to lower our risk of
developing oral cancer.
We also talked about the team of doctors and healthcare professionals that are there to
support oral cancer patients in all the ways that they might need.
Reach out to your doctor if you have additional questions or concerns.