Hygiene Atlas

Atlas · Plate VII · General and Oral Pathology · 08

Oral cancer

Squamous cell carcinoma makes up about 90% of oral cancers. Tobacco and alcohol together raise risk sharply, HPV-16 drives oropharyngeal cancer and sun exposure drives lower lip cancer. The posterolateral and ventral tongue and the floor of the mouth are the usual intraoral sites. Survival drops when cancer is found late, so a suspicious lesion lasting about two weeks after removing any cause goes to biopsy.

High-yield facts · 10

  1. Squamous cell carcinoma makes up about 90% of oral cancers.S58
  2. Main risk factors: tobacco and alcohol (synergistic), HPV-16 for oropharynx, sun exposure for lip cancer.S58
  3. Most common intraoral sites: posterolateral border and ventral tongue, then floor of the mouth.S58T5
  4. Lower lip SCC is linked to sun exposure; actinic cheilitis is its precursor.T5
  5. HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer often affects younger nonsmokers and has a better prognosis.S58
  6. Erythroplakia has a much higher rate of dysplasia or carcinoma at biopsy (around 90%) than leukoplakia (roughly 5-25%).T5
  7. Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia is multifocal, recurs, and has a very high malignant transformation rate.T5
  8. Any suspicious lesion that does not resolve within about 2 weeks after removing the possible cause should be referred for biopsy.T2
  9. Verrucous carcinoma is a slow, exophytic, low-grade variant linked to smokeless tobacco.T5
  10. The 5-year survival for oral and pharyngeal cancer is about 68-69% overall but much lower when found late.S58

Facts are written in our own words; each tag links to its source. Values marked "sources vary" differ between references, so check the one your program uses.