General Features

The most common form of cancer in the mouth is squamous cell carcinoma, which is the sixth most common form of cancer worldwide accounting for approximately 4% of cancers in men and 2% in women.¹ In some countries such as India, as many as one-half of all new cancers are those that arise in the oral cavity. Deaths due to oral and oropharyngeal cancer represent approximately 2% of total deaths in men and 1% of total deaths in women. The total number of annual cases of oral cancer in the US is estimated to be 35,000 and annual deaths as high as 9,500. Unfortunately, despite the relative increases in the survival of patients with cancers at other sites, the 5-year survival rate for oral cancer has remained at about 40% for the past several decades.