Mouth cancer action month

Prof Margaret Stanley OBE from the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge was joined at the event by leading figures from the world of dentistry, MPs and mouth cancer survivors. The reception was hosted by the Rt. Hon. Sir Paul Beresford MP, himself a dentist, and will also include speeches from the Foundation's Chief Executive Nigel Carter OBE and President John Siebert.

Mouth Cancer Action Month, run by the British Dental Health Foundation and sponsored by Denplan, takes place throughout November under the strapline ‘If in doubt, get checked out’. The campaign aims to educate people about the main risk factors of mouth cancer, with tobacco use and still being the main cause of the disease. Drinking alcohol to excess, poor diet, the human papillomavirus (HPV) transmitted via oral sex and forms of smokeless tobacco are also risk factors.

Since the turn of the Millennium cases of mouth cancer have increased by 50 per cent. Without early detection and treatment half of them will die. Mouth cancer kills more people than cervical cancer and testicular cancer combined. Twice as many men as women are likely to be diagnosed with mouth cancer, but everyone is at risk.