Social background can impact on mouth cancer risk
A senior lecturer from the University of Glasgow has revealed that an individual’s social background can impact on their risk of developing oral cancer.
Dr David Conway claimed that people with a ‘low social economic status’ were more likely to develop the disease than those with a high economic status. Dr Conway was speaking at the House of Commons as part of Mouth Cancer Action Month 2010. The campaign was launched to try and raise awareness of the disease, which is becoming increasingly common in the UK. Oral cancer kills more people than both cervical cancer and testicular cancer, yet many people are unaware of the symptoms and signs and consequently, most cases are only discovered at the advanced stage.
Dr Conway revealed the findings of his recent award-winning study, ‘Socioeconomic Risk Factors Associated with Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancer’ at the launch of the campaign. The study analysed different socio-economic groups according to education, occupation and income and found that individuals with lower incomes, poor employment history and lower levels of formal education were much more likely to develop the disease than those with a good income, high levels of formal education and good employment history.
Dr Conway revealed that education was the main risk factor when lifestyle habits, including alcohol consumption, smoking and diet were taken into consideration. Smoking and drinking are the major risk factors for oral cancer and people who smoke and drink on a regular basis have a significantly higher risk of developing the disease than those who do not smoke and do not drink regularly.
Dr Conway addressed the House of Commons claiming that more needs to be done to raise awareness of oral cancer and offer additional support for disadvantaged people who have a high risk of developing the condition.
The Mouth Cancer Action Month campaign will run throughout November.
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