What do we mean by 'Mouth Cancer'? Mouth Cancer is a colloquial term for Oral Cancer. Oral cancer includes cancers of the tongue, gum and jaw bone (sarcoma). If these are not the cancer type you're looking for, please explore the information about other types of Head and Neck Cancers.
Following a diagnosis of Mouth Cancer, your cancer care team will discuss the treatment options that are suitable for you. This is also a good time to consider if you would like a second opinion. The most suitable treatment of oral cancer depends on many things including:
size and location of the cancer
whether it has spread
personal factors (e.g. age, general health and treatment history)
types of treatment available (and whether there are any clinical trials that are suitable for you)
your preferences for treatment.
While some people can be treated with surgery alone, others may need extra treatment after surgery to reduce the risk of the cancer returning. Your cancer care team will decide whether it is necessary for you based on a detailed report on the cancer from the pathologist 1–2 weeks after surgery. Adding another type of treatment after surgery is called adjuvant therapy. This can be either radiation therapy alone or combined with chemotherapy (called chemoradiation), which is typically started about 6 weeks after surgery to allow recovery and for planning purposes. The treatment itself usually lasts about 6 weeks. Watch this 3D video explainer about Mouth Cancer:
There are a number of different operations that can be used to remove Mouth Cancer. The type of operation used will depend on the size of the cancer and where it is. The different options for Mouth Cancer include:
The most common radiation therapy approach for Mouth Cancer is called external beam radiation. This type of radiation therapy applies radiation from outside the body. Radiation therapy can be used in the following ways:
This is when radiation therapy is used without surgery to cure oral cancer, often in combination with chemotherapy. This approach has a very limited role in oral cancer, as most patients are best treated with surgery as first-line therapy. It may however be used if a patient is not a candidate for surgery.
This is when radiation therapy is given after surgery, to kill cancer cells that may not have been taken out during surgery. Adjuvant radiation therapy can also be given in combination with chemotherapy (this is called concurrent chemoradiation). The decision to give radiation therapy, either alone or in combination with chemotherapy, is based on the pathology results after surgery. The aim is to lower the risk of the cancer returning in the mouth or neck, but not all patients may need this.
In cases where a cure is not possible, radiation therapy is used to relieve symptoms of advanced oral cancer. Symptoms that may require palliative radiation therapy include pain, bleeding, breathing and trouble swallowing.
Chemotherapy works by destroying or damaging cancer cells. For Mouth Cancer, it is usually given into a vein through a needle with a cannula (tube) attached. There are a number of ways that chemotherapy may be used to treat Mouth Cancers including:
This is when chemotherapy is given after surgery in combination with radiation therapy (called concurrent chemoradiation). It may be given once every 3 weeks or once a week throughout the duration of radiation therapy. This makes the radiation more effective at killing cancer cells but also leads to more side effects in most people. Unlike chemotherapy for many other cancers, most people do not lose their hair or have severe nausea and vomiting.
This is when chemotherapy is given before surgery or radiation therapy to help shrink large cancers, making them easier to remove during surgery, or target with radiation therapy. This is very rarely used for oral cancer but may be used for sarcomas.
This is used when the cancer is incurable. The cancer may be too large or has spread too much to be removed by surgery. Palliative chemotherapy helps to slow the growth of cancer and reduce symptoms. It is important to remember that palliative chemotherapy is not as intense as other types and is much less likely to have significant side effects.
Before you start treatment, your medical oncologist will choose one or more chemotherapy medications that will be best to treat the type of cancer you have. The chemotherapy medications your doctor chooses may depend on:
whether the treatment is curative or palliative
when it is used
your medical history.
Loading...