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Survey reveals poor awareness of mouth cancer symptoms
May 02, 2012
A new survey highlights the need to raise awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of mouth cancer.
The majority of Britons do not know the symptoms of mouth cancer, an annual survey has found.
Simplyhealth's Annual Dental Survey revealed that 70 percent of people did not know the symptoms of mouth cancer, which include a persistent mouth sore or ulcer, red patches in the mouth that do not heal, and a lump or thickening in the mouth, tongue or throat.
The survey also found that while 85 percent of people recognised smoking as a risk factor for mouth cancer, just three percent knew that kissing could increase their chances of developing the disease.
It does so by spreading the human papillomavirus (HPV), certain strains of which are associated with mouth cancer.
James Glover, a spokesman for Simplyhealth, said: "Although this risk cannot be avoided in the same way as not smoking, it's important for people to know what makes us all susceptible to this type of cancer."
Mouth cancer is relatively rare in the UK, with around 6,200 people diagnosed with cancer of the mouth or oropharynx (the part of the throat just behind the mouth) each year.
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