Cancer Research UK is to launch a three-year campaign in November to raise awareness of the risks and symptoms of mouth cancer, with funding from the Department of Health. The new campaign will focus on raising awareness of the early signs of mouth cancer and the importance of early detection. According to the charity, around 4,400 people get mouth cancer every year in the UK and nearly 1,600 die from the disease yet most cases are preventable. The primary risk factors for the disease are tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption.

The charity adds that evidence shows early detection of mouth cancer can significantly improve the chances of successful treatment — raising five-year survival rates from around 50 to 90 per cent. Sara Hiom, Head of Health Information at Cancer Research UK says, “Although mouth cancer is less common than melanoma, roughly equal numbers of people die from these diseases annually. This reflects the poorer survival rates for mouth cancer. Many people do not know enough about mouth cancer and its early signs for it to be detected in good time. We hope that improving awareness of the disease will raise survival rates.”

The Department of Health is giving Cancer Research UK £100,000 a year for an initial three years to run the new campaign and will rely in its first year on a PR campaign, to be launched during Mouth Cancer Awareness Week (13–19 November). The charity will also make extensive use of case studies to illustrate its message and reach target audiences through lifestyle publications. It will also focus on 'at-risk' groups including people who smoke and/or drink heavily, those over the age of 40 and people who are not registered with a dentist.

The campaign will include messages to dentists, doctors and pharmacists, who can play key roles referring patients with suspected early signs of mouth cancer to specialists.

The Chief Dental Officer for England, Professor Raman Bedi, said, “This campaign is timely because under new contractual arrangements for NHS dentistry, to be introduced next April, dentists will undertake a more extensive assessment of their patients' oral health.”