It's all in the numbers Christine. 30,000 new oral cancer cases a year is relatively small for a disease (cancer) that overall kills 550,000 a year. Many consider this to be a "sin disease", i.e., a result of vices such as tobacco or alcohol abuse (although don't tell this to the folks who neither drank nor smoked) which are reported to be about 25% of the diagnosed population.

Certainly the poisons we have put in our food supply and environment must play a role as well as genetics. Unfortunately the science just isn't there yet with definitive answers.

Statistically, according to the ACS, the new case number has declined slightly.