Oral cavity cancer starts in the mouth and includes the lips, cheeks, teeth, gums, front of the tongue, floor and roof of the mouth. The oral cavity stops at the throat just behind the mouth, called the oropharynx.
Oropharyngeal cancer (throat cancer) is closely related to oral cavity cancer (mouth cancer). It includes the back of the tongue, soft palate, tonsils and walls of the throat. Oropharynx and oral cavity tumors occur most often on the:
According to the American Cancer Society, oral cancers are more than twice as common in men as in women.