MedifocusHealth

Cancer can occur anywhere in the mouth (oral cavity) or oropharynx (the part of the throat at the back of the mouth) which work together to allow breathing, talking, eating, chewing and swallowing.

The oral cavity includes the following parts:

• Lips
• Lining inside the lips and cheeks (buccal mucosa)
• Teeth
• Bottom (floor) of the mouth under the tongue
• Front two-thirds of the tongue (the mobile tongue)
• Bony top of the mouth (hard palate)
• Gums
• Small area behind the wisdom teeth.

The oropharynx includes:

• The back one-third of the tongue
• Soft palate
• Tonsils
• The part of the throat behind the mouth

Salivary glands, located throughout the oral cavity, produce and secrete saliva, which keeps the mouth moist and helps digest food.

The tongue is a complex organ composed largely of muscle and covered by a mucous membrane of squamous cells which are flat, scale-like cells that form the lining of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

The oral cavity and oropharynx contain several types of tissues each of which contains several types of cells. Different cancers can develop from each kind of cell. The different cell types from which oral cancer can develop 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 carcinoma 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 superficial layer of cells lining the oral cavity and oropharynx called epithelial cells. Invasive squamous cells carcinoma means that the cancer cells have spread beyond the epithelial layer into deeper layers of the oral cavity or oropharynx.

The incidence of tongue cancer varies among countries with the highest incidence found in India (9 cases per 100,000 people per year]. The incidence of tongue cancer in the United States for white males has been estimated to be about 2.5 cases per 100,000 per year, however, it has been reported to be nearly twice as high in African-American males. Tongue cancer is much more prevalent in males than females by a ratio of about 2 to 1. The highest incidence of tongue cancer is observed in men between ages of 60 to 80 and is rarely observed in young adults under age 20.