ear, nose, and throat disorders
Mouth and Throat Cancer
Risk Factors for Mouth and Throat Cancer
The main risk factors for mouth and throat cancer are Tobacco use Alcohol use Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection Tobacco usecauses many mouth and throat cancers. Tobacco use includes smoking cigarettes, cigars, or pipes; chewing tobacco or chewing betel quid (a mixture of substances that includes tobacco, also called paan); and dipping snuff. In the United States, smoking cigarettes (particularly more than 2 packs per day) is the main tobacco-related risk factor for mouth and throat cancer. Cigar smoking can also increase risk. Pipe smoking increases risk of cancer in the part of the lips that touch the pipe stem. Chewing tobacco or snuff increases the risk of developing cancer in the cheeks, gums, and inner surface of the lips, where the tobacco has the most contact, by 50%. Chronic or heavy alcohol usealso increases the risk of mouth and throat cancer. The increase in risk is proportional to the amount of alcohol consumed. There is some evidence that the alcohol contained in mouthwash can contribute to oral cancer when used repeatedly over a long period of time. The greatest risk results from thecombined heavy use of both tobacco and alcohol,which is two to three times more likely to cause cancer than either one alone. Such combined use raises the risk of mouth cancer 100-fold in women and 38-fold in men; it raises the risk of throat cancer 30-fold. People who continue to use tobacco and alcohol after developing mouth or throat cancer have more than twice the chance as the rest of the population of developing a second mouth or throat cancer. Human papillomavirus ( Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection ), the virus that causes Because more people are being vaccinated against HPV, throat cancers caused by HPV are expected to become less common in the future. However, because throat cancer does not develop for many years, the decrease will take years to become evident. Sexis a risk factor. About three quarters of mouth and throat cancers occur in men. Increasing age,as with most cancers, increases risk. that add to the risk of mouth cancer include repeated irritation from the sharp edges of broken teeth, fillings, cavities, or ill-fitting dental prostheses (such as dentures). Previous x-rays of the head and neck, Candidiasis (Yeast Infection) , and poor oral hygiene are also risk factors. Heavy sun exposure can cause cancer of the lip. 