CANCER IN THE MOUTH

the silent killer in our country

If oral cancer is identified at an early stage, it can be completely cured

While all of us talk about deaths due to road traffic accidents, suicides, heart attacks, Diabetes and strokes there is another silent killer of people existing without being noticed; that is oral cancer or cancer in the mouth. Two to three (2-3) people die each day and one thousand people die every year due to oral cancer in Sri Lanka.

People who chew betel with arecanut & tobacco, people who smoke, consume alcohol and chew tobacco are the victims of oral cancer.

Oral cancer can be easily prevented if you avoid taking beetle nut/areca nut, other forms of tobacco, smoking and alcohol. Another special thing about cancer in the mouth is that it has a precancerous stage (a noticeable stage before cancer). If precancerous lesions could be identified in a person early it can totally be cured and prevent it from changing to cancer.

In addition to this, if oral cancer is identified at an early stage, it can be completely cured. In the pre-cancerous and early cancerous stages, this will be seen as a red coloured or a white coloured patch. Some patients get cancers as a wound or a hardened area in the mouth or a difficulty in opening the mouth.

Treatment of oral cancer in late stages is quite challenging. However it is still possible.

Patients with extensive oral cancers will be operated by experienced cancer surgeons and the cancer will be removed from the body. Then the patient will be undergoing chemotherapy (injecting medicines to kill cancer cells) and radiotherapy (delivering a beam of radiation onto the cancer).

Hence cancer in the mouth is one of the commonest cancers in Sri Lanka that can be avoided with healthy lifestyles.

With the slightest suspicion of a cancer in the mouth one should show his/ her mouth to a qualified dental surgeon/oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon.