Oral cancer cases rising nationwide

Approximately 51,550 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer in 2018, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation. That number has been on a rise for more than a decade.

According to the foundation, there are two common ways to contract oral cancer:  through tobacco and alcohol use, and through exposure to the HPV-16 virus. This virus is also responsible for the majority of cases of cervical cancer in women. 

Here are some other statistics about oral cancer:

•  Every day, 132 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with mouth cancer
• A person dies from oral cancer every hour of every day
• When found at an early stage, oral cancers have an 80 to 90 percent survival rate
• The overall death rate at five years after diagnosis is 43 percent due to fact that majority of cases are found at late stages