Sixty thousand Americans are diagnosed with oral, head and neck cancer each year, but many people who are at high risk do not get screened for the disease.

Oral, head and neck cancer is a preventable disease that affects the nasal cavity, sinuses, thyroid, and other areas of the head and neck. Elimination of risky behaviors, and early detection and treatment can significantly increase the survival rate for individuals who have the cancer says Dr. James Malone, assistant professor of otolaryngology at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. Malone explains:

SOUND BITE: "The main risk factor is tobacco use and that could be either cigarettes, cigars, pipes or chewing tobacco. Heavy alcohol use is also a risk factor, independent of tobacco use. And when used together, they actually have a synergistic effect at creating cancers in the upper air digestive track - the mouth and the throat . . ."

Malone says some common symptoms for oral, head, neck cancer include a lump, a white or red patch in the mouth, a blister, a sore or an ulcer in the mouth that is not heeling, or is bleeding. Other symptoms are a sore throat that has failed to improve, changes in the voice, difficulty swallowing, and difficulty in breathing and speaking. He explains some treatment options for patients.

SOUND BITE: ". . . in general, head-neck cancers are treated by one or a combination of three treatments - surgery to remove the tumor, radiation therapy which uses Xray beams to kill the tumor and in some occasions chemotherapy is added in combination with either surgery, or more commonly radiation therapy."

If you are having some of these symptoms, you should see your primary care physician for an evaluation. If the symptoms do not respond to antibiotics, you may need to seek a more detailed evaluation by an otolaryngologist, who does head and neck surgery.