How can smoking lead to Oral Cancer?
Tobacco's greatest threat to health is its link to oral cancer. Smokers are one hundred percent more prone to oral cancer than non-smokers.
About 90% of the population who suffer from oral cancer and throat cancer are smokers.
About 37% of patients who continue to smoke after cancer treatment will develop second cancers of the mouth, throat or larynx. This compares with only 6% of those who stop smoking.
Tobacco smoke from cigarettes, cigars or pipes can cause cancers anywhere in the mouth or the part of the throat just behind the mouth. It also can cause cancers of the larynx, lungs, esophagus, kidneys, bladder and several other organs. Pipe smoking also can cause cancer in the area of the lips that contacts the pipe stem.
Smokeless tobacco has been linked to cancers of the cheek, gums and inner surface of the lips.
