Facts
Mouth cancer - facts and figures
In the UK about 4,400 new cases of mouth cancer are diagnosed annually.
Mouth cancer is the cause of about 1,700 deaths every year.
The number of people diagnosed with mouth cancer each year has increased by over 17 percent from 1995-1999.Â
Mouth cancer is more common in men than women.
Mouth cancer is more likely to affect people over 40.
In the UK mouth cancer is most common in Scotland.
Each year there are 600 new cases and 200 deaths in Scotland.
Smoking, chewing tobacco and drinking can add to the risk of mouth cancer.
Early detection and treatment can improve survival chances from 50 percent to nearer 90 percent.
(Information from Cancer Research UK.)
Public awareness of mouth cancer
Only 56 percent of people surveyed had heard of mouth cancer.
Over three-quarters (76 percent) of participants were aware of the link between smoking and oral cancer.
Only 19 percent of people knew that alcohol misuse is linked to mouth cancer.
People aged 25 to 34 had the highest knowledge about the links between smoking, alcohol and mouth cancer.
One recent study found that 25 percent of young people diagnosed with mouth cancer were not among those at risk through smoking and drinking.
(Information from ‘An alarming lack of public awareness towards oral cancer’, September 1999; ‘An analysis of risk factors for oral cancer in young people: a case control study: 2003′ and ‘Risk factors for oral cancer in newly diagnosed patients aged 45 years and younger: a case-control study in Southern England: 2004′. All studies by Warnakulasuriya and others)
