700 new cases of mouth cancer are recorded in Greece every year

HealthInGr

Greek Reporter — Mouth cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers in humans and 700 new cases are recorded every year in Greece, according to George Laskaris, Professor of Stomatology at the University of Athens and Visiting Professor of London University.

Laskaris was speaking at a conference of the Public Health Institute of the American College of Greece in a lecture titled Diseases of Oral Cavity: What You Need to Know.

As he explained “early diagnosis of oral cancer is the key to rapid successful treatment – prognosis – quality of life and survival of more than 90-95 percent.”

According to scientists, cancer is the most dangerous of the 1,000 diseases that occur in the mouth. The key factors for the increase of oral cancer worldwide, including Greece, are smoking, alcohol, and possibly HPV viruses.

“Everyone should be aware and be able to recognize any changes made to his mouth and promptly seek the opinion of a stomatologist,” said Laskaris.

The main symptoms of the oral disease are: pain, bleeding, burning tongue, white or red colour, black spots, a wound that does not close, difficulty in chewing and swallowing, swelling of the gums, swelling in the neck lymph nodes, stiffness, bad breath, dry mouth.