Floor Of The Mouth Cancer

Floor of the mouth cancer is a cancer that develops in floor of the mouth in the area under the tongue.

Almost 28,000 people in the united states are diagnosed with floor of the mouth cancer and approximately 7,000 of these patients die from this type of cancer.

This type of cancer is mostly diagnosed in men.

The symptoms of floor of the mouth cancer include:

• an ulcer in the mouth that grows with time.
• Dentures that no longer fit.
• White, red or black patches in the mouth.
• Numbness in the mouth
• Loose teeth or pain around the teeth.
• Lumps in the neck. 

The tumor appears like an ulcer that is painless. Because of this, most patients can confuse the tumor to a canker ulcer. By the time a diagnosis is made the  cancer would have spread to the neck.

The causes of floor of the mouth cancer include:

• cigarette or tobacco smoking.
• viral infections like human papilloma virus (HPV)and human immune deficiency virus (HIV).                                                                                                                                                                                   

Making a diagnosis of floor of the mouth cancer is done by performing several tests.

The floor of the mouth can be  is examined to check if there is an ulcer. The ears, nose, throat and neck can also be examined to check if the cancer has spread.

Other tests that doctors use include:

• Blood tests,
• Imaging tests like X-ray, computerized tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography ( PET) scan to check if the tumor has spread to the lungs,
• Taking a biopsy of the floor of the mouth for lab analysis.

Surgery is recommended treatment method for floor of the mouth cancer when the cancer is diagnosed in its early stages.

Sometimes surgery can be combined with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This method is mostly used in cases where the cancer has already spread to other areas of the bode like the neck or lungs.

There is a risk of floor of the mouth cancer, if left untreated, to spread to other parts of the body like the ears, nose, neck and lungs.