In 2008, in the United States, more than 35,000 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer. Most of those diagnoses will be too late. Of those diagnosed at later stages over 50 percent will not survive more than five years.

One such patient, named herein only as “John Doe” found out the hard way just how pervasive cancers of the mouth can be. He is currently under treatment for cancer of the mouth and will be losing a large portion of his lower lip.

The diagnosis came on a routine visit to Dr. Mohammad Ali Tabatabaeei-Fatemi in California, MD. Dr. Fatima stated in a recent interview with TheBAYNET.com, “The public needs to be more aware of this disease.” Fatima reported that he discovered what he thought might be a cancerous lesion on Doe’s lower lip and sent the man to an oral surgeon.

“For whatever reason, that surgeon refused to do a biopsy on Mr. Doe, so I did it,” said Fatima. It turns out that the respected dentist was right. “It is a good thing the cancer was on his lower lip,” Fatima said. “If it was on his upper lip, it would have been too late to save him.”

When asked why, Fatima stated that cancers of the mouth are more invasive than cancers elsewhere in the body. “The upper lip is closer to areas that can help the disease metastasize.”

Fatima went on to state that oral cancers are primarily discovered in tobacco users. “I had one boy that dipped tobacco. He was only 16 and he had oral cancer,” said Fatima. “People who compound the problem by drinking, especially heavy drinkers, are doubling their risk of contracting the disease.”

When asked what the general public can do to prevent the disease and to catch it before it becomes life threatening, Fatima stated that every time someone goes to the dentist an exam should be performed to determine of there are any signs of cancer.

There are also warning signs that people can pay attention to between dentist visits. “Oral cancer is usually an invisible, symptom free disease in the early stages,” said Fatima. “It is not like with heart disease or lung cancer. Those patients have an idea they are in trouble before it is too late because they can feel it. They can feel that they are having more trouble breathing or that they are having a harder time walking up stairs.”

Fatima reported that early mouth cancers usually feel like maybe a canker sore. “People such watch for things like pain in the jaw or if their bite all of a sudden seems to change for no reason,” said Fatima.

Oral cancer is classified as any one of many types of cancerous tissue found in the mouth. The most common oral cancer is squamous cell carcinoma, which normally starts in the area of the lips and tongue, but it may be present on the floor and roof of the mouth, cheeks or gums.