What Is It? Oral cancer is cancer anywhere in the mouth. Oral
cancer can include any cancer on the lip, the tongue, the inside
surface of the cheeks, the hard palate (the front part of the
roof of the mouth), or the gums. Cancers that are far back in
the mouth area, such as cancers on the soft palate (the back
part of the roof of the mouth) or back of the throat, are not
considered oral cancer. Usually, oral cancer is a type of cancer
named squamous cell carcinoma, in which surface cells grow and
divide in an uncontrolled way. Oral cancer occurs more often in
men than in women. The American Cancer Society estimates that
36,540 new cases of oral cancer will be diagnosed in 2010 in the
United States, and 11,120 of them will be in women. The number
of new cases of oral cancer has been slowly decreasing over the
past 3 decades. Oral cancer is strongly associated with smoking
or chewing tobacco: About 90% of people with oral cancers use
tobacco. The risk increases with the amount and length of
tobacco use. Alcohol