Local MP Backs Mouth Cancer Awareness Week

1.22.10pm GMT Wed 19th Nov 2003

Vincent Cable, MP, has backed a campaign to highlight the increasing threat posed by mouth cancer. Mouth Cancer Awareness Week urges the public to Watch Your Mouth, the theme of this year's event. The week aims to highlight to patients the importance of not ignoring warning signs of the disease but instead to take up their concerns with a dentist or dental hygienist.

Over 13,000 people in the UK either have, or are recovering from, mouth cancer. Incidences of the disease increased by 17 per cent between 1995 and 1999.

Early detection significantly increases the chance of surviving the disease. Patients who have the disease detected in its early stages are more than twice as likely to survive as those who have it detected later. Warning signs, such as persistent ulcers or red or white patches in the mouth, should not be ignored.

Vincent Cable said: "Mouth cancer may have a lower profile than breast, lung, or cervical cancer, but that doesn't mean it is any less dangerous, incidences of the disease are increasing. Its crucial that those who are concerned about mouth cancer seek help from a dentist or dental hygienist, because the earlier it is detected the better chance a person has of surviving."

"I fully support the aims of Mouth Cancer Awareness Week 2003, and urge people to ask their dentist to screen them for mouth cancer during their next visit. What worries me is that with fewer and fewer people having dental checks, because of the decline of NHS dentistry, the disease will not be picked up."