Victims of oral cancer not only deal with the debilitating side-effects of radiation and chemotherapy but with the very visible evidence of surgery. Recovering the ability to speak clearly and adjusting to new oral prostheses are additional challenges. As with any cancer, the threat of death is an overriding fear. Most disturbing about oral and pharyngeal cancer is the survival rate. In the United States it is approximately 50 percent, a statistic that has not changed appreciably over the past 20 years.
Oral cancer is unusual in that it carries a high risk of second primary tumors.
Patients who survive a first cancer of the oral cavity have up to a 20-fold increased risk of developing a second primary oral cancer. The heightened risk can last 5-10 years, sometimes longer. Until researchers learn more about this phenomenon, second primary tumors will remain a specter faced by all oral cancer patients. Additionally, oral cancer, like many diseases, continues to take a disproportionate toll on minorities. Incidence peaks in African Americans 10 years earlier than in the general population, in whom the disease is usually diagnosed between ages 65-74.