Oral Cancer Facts Of the 400,000 people worldwide who are diagnosed each year with oral cancer, only half will be alive in five years time. The disease kills approximately one person every hour in the USA alone and of the 30,000 Americans diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer each year, 8000 will die. The death rate from this type of cancer is higher than that of cervical, liver, kidney, or skin cancer, due to the fact that it is often discovered only when the cancer has metastasized to another location. Prognosis at this stage of discovery is significantly worse than when it is caught in a localised area. Oral cancer is particularly dangerous because it has a high risk of producing second, primary tumors and although there are several types of oral cancers, 90% are squamous cell carcinomas. And the bad news doesn’t stop there. One of the real dangers of this cancer is that in its early stages, it can go unnoticed. It can be painless and few physical changes may be obvious. It can be difficult to detect early by a dentist or doctor and only if they can see or feel the precursor tissue changes or the actual cancer while it is still very small, or in its earliest stages. Individuals with the highest risk are those over the age of forty who smoke and drink alcohol, representing roughly 25% of the world’s population. To find out more about this deadly type of cancer visit the official website of the American Oral Cancer foundation http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org