Abstract

Oral cancer is a tumor of the upper digestive tract and accounts for about 8% of all malignant tumours. It is a malignant process that develops from the epithelial cell that contains altered genetical information that causes the uncontrolled division and growth, affecting the healthy surrounding tissues or organs. The cancer of the oral cavity affects men predominantly. Several factors (risk factors) contribute to the onset of oral cancer: smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, prolonged sun exposure, oral irritation, unhealthy eating, lack of oral hygiene. The most important factor is smoking. 98% of patients with oral cancer have been abusive smokers for 15-20 years. The risk of illness is caused by chronic mucosal irritation with tobacco products. The cancer of the oral cavity can also occur due to long-lasting, chronic, untreated pathological processes called precancerous processes such as: all forms of diskeratosis of the oral mucosa, degenerative-proliferative processes (ulcerations, granulomas) and changes in tissues due to scarring of tuberculous, syphilis, actinomic, post-traumatic origin. Risk factors, precancerous conditions as well as the aging of the body cause constant, sometimes irreversible, dysplasia of the oral cavity epithelium that leads to cancer.

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