The Oral Cavity and Oral Cancer
The oral cavity is a very specific place, well defined and broken down into various sites. The reason for this is that the treatment and prognosis for each site can vary tremendously, depending on the size and extent of the tumor. For the purposes of this discussion, I will actually include some sites that are, strictly speaking, not actually part of the oral cavity, such as the tonsil, soft palate, and base of tongue. These are actually parts of what is called the oropharynx, or upper throat. I do this because most people would think that any tumor you can see with the mouth open is in the mouth. As simple an explanation as that is, it is not exactly correct from a scientific point of view.
There are a number of different cancers that can be found in the oral cavity. The most common is one called Squamous Cell Carcinoma (cancer) and it is almost always, but not always, associated with smoking and drinking. This is a cancer that begins in the cells of the lining of the mouth and upper respiratory and digestive tract. We will focus on this one because it is the most common. Another source of cancer in the mouth is the minor salivary glands that are found there just underneath the surface. These cancers are usually what are called adenocarcinoma or some variation of adenocarcinoma and are much less common. Finally, there are a number of other cancers of the oral vacity that are very uncommon and rare.
We will focus on Squamous Cell cancer in the mouth and related places.
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