Oral Cancer (Mouth Cancer) Risk Factors  

All risk factors for oral cancer are not known; in fact, nearly 25% of cases of oral cancer are not associated with any suspected risk factor. The following conditions can increase your chance of developing mouth cancer:  

• Age – oral cancer is more frequent among people aged 50 or over. 
• Gender - men are twice more affected by oral cancer than women. This difference, however, have begun to decline because of growing number of women who smoke and/or heavily consume alcohol. 
• Smoking – cigarette smoke is considered as the prime factor of oral cancer; the risk is much greater when tobacco is associated with alcohol abuse. 
• Alcohol – moderate alcohol consumption represents no risk; excessive alcohol use, especially in combination with smoking, is a major cause of mouth cancer. 
• Prolonged exposure to sunlight – overexposing your lip to sunlight can cause formation of cancerous cells in its tissue.   
• Infection - poorly or untreated human papillomavirus (HPV) infection may provoke formation of a malignancy in your mouth.  
• Radiotherapy - radiation treatments in the head or neck area can damage healthy cells in your mouth and cause them to turn into cancerous.  

             Causes                                                               Symptoms