Approximately 30,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with this largely preventable type of cancer that affects the mouth and/or pharynx. Overall, oral cancer rates have increased approximately 15% from the mid 1970s until the latest National Cancer Institute Survey. During the same period, 5-year survival rates also increased. In both of these measures there are significant disparities in some population groups.
The National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program has been an important source of information on cancer in the United States since the mid 1970s. Click on the links below for details about oral cancer rates from the most recent survey (2004).
Click here for consumer information on oral cancer.