Patients with cancers treated in the early stages may have little post-treatment disfigurement, said Dr Praveen Kumar Garg, senior consultant cancer surgery Apollo Cancer Institute, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals while addressing the media persons in Dehradun on Saturday. Dr Garg said that poor care of the mouth and teeth is considered a factor that may increase the risk of head and neck cancer. Weakened immune system can also raise a person’s risk of head and neck cancer, he said, adding that awareness regarding prevention and management of cancer is still not much visible in rural India.
Dr Garg spoke on conditions ranging from head to neck to breast cancer. He also talked about symptoms and prevention associated with these ailments.
Throwing light on ailments caused due to wrong lifestyle habits, he said, “Head and neck cancers comprise cancers of the mouth and throat as well as some rare cancers. These include cancer of the sinuses (air spaces in the bones of the face), the salivary glands, or the nose and middle ear. Mouth cancer can develop on the lips, tongue, or anywhere inside the mouth. The most common spots are the side of the tongue or floor of the mouth.”
He said that two substances- tobacco and alcohol greatly increase the risk of developing head and neck cancer. Using alcohol and tobacco together increase the risk even more, he said.
Tobacco’s use includes smoking cigarettes, cigars, or pipes; chewing tobacco; and using snuff. It is the single largest risk factor for head and neck cancer, he said, adding eighty-five percent of head and neck cancers are linked to tobacco use, and the amount of tobacco use may affect prognosis and the chance of recovery.
In addition, second-hand smoke may increase a person’s risk of developing head and neck cancer, he said. Frequent and heavy alcohol consumption raises the risk of developing cancer in the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and oesophagus, he added.
He further said that prolonged sun exposure is especially linked to cancer in the lip area as well as skin cancer of the head and neck. Infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a risk factor for head and neck cancer, he said, adding that sexual activity with a person who has HPV is the most common way of contracting HPV. Though the number of men afflicted with head and neck cancer is much more than the number of women afflicted by the same the rate of head and neck cancer among the women has been rising alarmingly for decades, he said.
He said that a red or white patch in the mouth or a sore throat can be the first signs of cancer of the mouth and throat. “Most oral cancers form on the lips, tongue, or floor of the mouth. They may also happen inside the cheeks, on the gums, or on the roof of the mouth,” he said. HPV is responsible for the rise in cancers of the oropharynx (tonsil and base of tongue) in younger non-smokers and is related to oral sex, Dr Garg said, adding that the more oral sex partners, the greater the risk of HPV cancer.