Mouth (Oral Cavity) Cancer

Typically, mouth cancer is suspected when patients or their dentists notice symptoms such as the following:

• A sore that does not heal
• White or red patches
• Persistent and unexplained pain, numbness or bleeding
• Swelling

Diagnosis often requires a biopsy, or removal of a tiny part of abnormal tissue. This allows UChicago Medicine pathologists, who specialize in head and neck cancers, to provide a very specific diagnosis. For instance, using advanced laboratory tests, they can determine if your cancer is tied to specific genetic mutations. Other tests may also be needed for diagnosis, such as CT, MRI, and/or PET scans.

At UChicago Medicine, we treat a significant number of patients with mouth cancers, including complex cases, such as recurrent mouth cancers. You and your family will likely meet with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, head and neck surgical oncologists, speech pathologists and others. Together, our team determines how to best cure your cancer with the fewest side effects, while aiming to preserve your ability to taste, chew, speak and swallow. 

Your care plan will involve one or more of the following treatments:

• Surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy, or cancer-killing drugs
• Other drug therapies, such as immunotherapy

We are also always exploring novel treatments. At UChicago Medicine, we offer more clinical trials for patients with head and neck cancer than any other hospital in the Chicago area. 

Below is a broad overview of how we typically treat early-stage and advanced mouth cancer. However, every patient’s treatment plan is personalized to reflect their particular cancer diagnosis and their treatment preferences. 

Early-Stage Cancer

Advanced Stage Cancers 

Patients with advanced stage tongue and other mouth cancers are often told that surgery is the first and only treatment choice. About 20 years ago, our team of head and neck cancer specialists asked if there was a way to treat very advanced stage mouth cancer that would also ensure the best possibly function and quality of life for our patients. We decided to challenge the traditional surgery-first approach. 

We began giving patients chemotherapy and radiation therapy first, prior to any surgery. We soon discovered that this nonsurgical approach works well in many of our patients with advanced oral cavity and throat cancer. (Read about our results.) This approach often eliminates the need for surgery, or significantly reduces the amount of tissue that needs to be removed surgically. 

Our highly experienced medical oncologists and radiation oncologists know how to reduce side effects as much as possible during treatment, by using effective drugs and pinpointing the amount of radiation truly needed to treat the cancer (and no more). In addition, radiation can be targeted at the precise location of the tumor, versus a larger area of the mouth. This helps reduce any damage to surrounding tissues.  

At UChicago Medicine, our speech pathologists, nutritionists and other rehabilitation team members get involved in your care from the very beginning. This can help reduce treatment side effects. For instance, by evaluation of swallowing at the time of diagnosis, the speech pathologists take a proactive role to maintain the highest level of function and safety with individualized care plans. Early evaluation allows the speech pathologists to identify any potential speech and swallowing problems that you may develop during or after treatment, and provide ways to prevent or lessen these issues with the focus on function and quality of life.

In addition, our dedicated supportive oncology program provides a range of supportive care services to patients and their families, including mental health counseling, social work services and more.

If you smoke, it is important that you stop smoking during and after treatment for mouth cancer. UChicago Medicine’s No Smoker Left Behind program can provide you with the support you need to stop the habit.