Prevention of oral cancer

Primary prevention of oral cancer

There are a lot of people all over the world who would like to know what they can do in order to prevent oral cancer. First of all, people need to know that at least 30% of all oral cancer cases could be prevented if people stopped smoking and decreased the intake of alcohol. By excluding these two factors, a person will also decrease the risk of second tumors in people with oral cancer. Certain studies have shown that people who stopped smoking reduced the risk of developing oral cancer for 50% in a period of 3 to 5 years. A person who has not smoked for 10 years has the same chance of getting oral cancer as the person who has not smoked a cigarette in his or her entire life. People in India and Sri Lanka have the habit of chewing betel quid which also increases the risk of oral cancer. The people over there are fighting hard in order to prevent children from starting to chew betel quid. People who live in the developing countries would lessen the risk of oral cancer by dietary supplementation. Among the Indian men, chewing tobacco is the leading risk factor for oral cancer.

Secondary prevention of oral cancer: screening

A person has a greater chance to get rid of cancer if it was discovered in the early stages. If the cancer was discovered in the later stages, the chances of person not surviving are much higher. This is why it is important that people realize the importance of screening for premalignant or early stage oral cancers. The problem is that people do not know much about the disease and that they do to see the importance of screening. Early education is essential in these situations.

Future of oral cancer prevention

The good news is that the rate of death cases caused by oral cancer has decreased in the last century. However, people must not feel relaxed. The main reason why that is so, is because certain reports show an increased development of oral cancer among young and middle-aged men. Experts believe that the main problem is lack of education and people not knowing about the sign and symptoms. Nowadays, survival rates are better than they were 20 years ago but experts believe that they would be even higher if people knew more about the disease, its signs and symptoms.