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Highest burden in India · free patient guide
Oral, head & neck cancer
Mouth, tongue, cheek, gum, throat, voice box and salivary gland cancers
Head & neck cancer clinic
What it is
These cancers arise in the lining of the mouth, tongue, cheek, gums, throat, voice box or salivary glands. Most begin as a change you can see or feel, which is the single most useful fact on this page.
Many are preceded by a visible pre-cancerous change: a white patch (leukoplakia), a red patch (erythroplakia), or a stiffening of the cheeks that makes it hard to open your mouth (oral submucous fibrosis). These are findings to act on, not to watch.
Head and neck cancer is India's largest cancer burden, and oral cancer is the most common cancer in Indian men. Tobacco, gutka, khaini, paan masala and areca nut are the dominant causes, which also means it is among the most preventable and most detectable.
Warning signs worth acting on
- A mouth ulcer that has not healed in three weeks
- A white or red patch anywhere in the mouth that does not rub off
- Difficulty opening the mouth, or a feeling of tightening in the cheeks
- A lump in the neck in an adult
- Hoarseness lasting more than three weeks
- Persistent pain on swallowing, or a feeling of something stuck
- A loose tooth with no dental cause, or a socket that will not heal after extraction
- Any of the above in someone who uses tobacco, gutka, areca nut or alcohol
How it is diagnosed
- Examination of the mouth and neck, including the areas you cannot see yourself
- Endoscopic examination of the throat and voice box where indicated
- Biopsy of the abnormal area, the only way the diagnosis is made
- Imaging (CT, MRI or PET) to establish extent
- Independent review of the biopsy report before a treatment plan is built on it
Testing is used selectively in this group. HPV status matters in some throat cancers and changes how the disease is understood. Broader molecular profiling is considered where disease is advanced or has returned.
Is it inherited?
Most head and neck cancer is caused by exposure rather than inheritance. Family history is still recorded, and a strong pattern is referred for counselling.
Genetic counselling & family risk →
Prevention & early detection
Stopping tobacco and areca nut is the single most effective thing anyone can do about this disease. Our cessation clinic and community oral screening camps exist for exactly this reason, and screening a mouth costs nothing but a torch and two minutes.
Treatment options
What may form part of a plan
Which of these apply to you depends on your stage, your pathology, your other health and what you want from treatment. That decision belongs at a tumour board, not on a website.
Surgery
Operability assessment and planning here; the operation at the appropriate partner centre.
Radiotherapy
Targeted radiation to a defined area, planned in millimetres.
Chemotherapy
Drug treatment that acts on rapidly dividing cells throughout the body.
Targeted therapy
Medicines matched to a specific alteration found in your tumour.
Immunotherapy
Treatment that works on the immune system rather than directly on the tumour.
Dental care in cancer treatment
A mandatory step in head-and-neck treatment, and the one most often skipped.
Conservative management & active surveillance
Sometimes the right decision is to watch carefully and treat nothing yet.
At KPCIRC
The pathway for this disease
- Pre-radiation dental clearance is mandatory and is booked before the radiation referral leaves the building
- Nutrition and swallowing support from the start, weight loss here changes what treatment you can tolerate
- Tobacco and areca-nut cessation as part of treatment, not as advice
- Speech and voice rehabilitation after treatment
- Long-term dental review, because the risk to the jaw is permanent
Support that matters most here
Take this with you
Questions to ask your own doctor
These work wherever you are treated. Print the page or take a photograph of this list.
- Where exactly is it, and has it spread to the neck nodes?
- Do I need dental clearance before radiation, and how long will that take?
- What will happen to my speech and my swallowing?
- How will I eat during treatment, and who helps with that?
- What order are surgery, radiation and drug treatment being planned in, and why?
This page is not an emergency service. Severe breathlessness, chest pain, uncontrolled bleeding, a high fever during chemotherapy, or a sudden change in alertness means going to your nearest emergency department now, not reading further.