[quote=Susan3175] My sister has unfortunatly been the first one in the family diagnosed with cancer but it is due to her previous smoking habit( she quit day of surgery). [/quote]

That statement bothers me as it is finger pointing towards your sister or to any former smoker on here. Oral cancer has many causes and more are being discovered all the time. Genetic predisposition, oral hygene, HPV, smoking, many have unknown origins. At this time doctors are not able to say what causes a person's cancer. Most doctors would never tell a patient that their OC was definetly caused by smoking. It is hurtful to the patients mental well being for them to say something like that. It makes the patient blame themselves and feel tremendous guilt when they are already going thru more than enough just fighting cancer. Of course, smoking PROBABLY caused it or certainly didnt help the situation. It is not proven that OC runs in families. There are a few members who have family members who have had OC.