The oral cavity and oropharynx contain several types of tissue and each of these tissues contains several types of cells. Different cancers can develop from each kind of cell. The differences are important, because they influence treatment options and outlook for recovery.
More than 90% of cancers of the oral cavity and oropharynx are squamous cell carcinomas, also called squamous cell cancer. Squamous cell cancer begins as a collection of abnormal squamous cells. The earliest form of squamous cell cancer is called carcinoma in situ meaning that the cancer cells are present only in the lining layer of cells called the epithelium. Invasive squamous cells cancer means that the cancer cells have spread beyond this layer into deeper layers of the oral cavity or oropharynx.
The American Cancer Society estimates about 30,200 new cases (20,000 in men and 10,000 in women) or oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer will be diagnosed in the United States during 2000.
Treatment usually requires a combination of surgery and radiation, chemotherapy and/or cryotherapy (freezing).
The Medifocus Guide on Tongue and Oral Cancers provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the most common symptoms of oral cancer?
Are there any recognized risk factors for developing oral cancer?
What kinds of medical tests are used to establish the diagnosis of oral cancer?
What is the current standard of care for the treatment of oral cancer?
What treatment options are available for the management of oral cancer?
Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?
Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in oral cancer?
Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for oral cancer?
What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about oral cancer?
What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Tumors of the oral cavity and pharynx. World Journal of Surgery. 2000
Intraoral liposarcoma: case report and review of the literature. 2000
Primary osteogenic sarcoma of the tongue. Journal of Laryngology & Otology. 1999
Squamous carcinoma of the tongue: review. British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. 1999
A multidisciplinary approach to head and neck cancer. European Journal of Cancer Care (English Language Edition). 1998
Cancer of the tongue in patients less than forty. Head & Neck. 2000
Lipoma of the tongue. Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. 2000
Carcinoma of the tongue: the speech therapist's perspective. British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. 1999
Management of Jehovah's Witness patients undergoing major head and neck surgery. Head & Neck. 1999
Cancer of the base of the tongue: past and future. Head & Neck. 1999
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