Oral cancer can NOT be found from a blood test! Please do yourself a huge favor and avoid Dr Google, it will never replace being seen by the correct doctor for your ailments.

The odds of survival are around 60% for oral cancer (OC) patients when all stages are combined. When it is found in its earliest stages, OC survival is much higher, around 85%. After being here for over 12 years, Ive seen far too many good people lost to OC! Theres no rhyme or reason for this terrible disease that takes the lives of some Stage I patients while other Stage IV patients survive against gigantic odds. Personally, I do not concern myself too much about statistics ... especially when I am one of those Stage IV patients who defied the odds of survival.

I know its NOT easy to remain calm when you have been asking Dr Google medical type questions and they bring up very scary results like cancer! This does NOT do anything to help get a diagnosis.

The only thing you can do to obtain a diagnosis is to go to the correct medical professional (ENT specializing in OC) to have a full oral cancer screening along with a biopsy of any suspicious bumps, lumps, patches, spots, sores, etc. After the biopsy, theres usually a wait that most of us feel takes forever but its about a week in the US until the pathology report comes back with detailed info about what the tissue sample they examined is.

The only positive things you can do while waiting for your doctors appointment, test and results would be the following... You will want to avoid anything that could make what you have going on worse. Immediately stop drinking alcohol, smoking, betel nuts, etc. as they are irritants with many known cancer causing agents. Even using mouthwash that contains alcohol can irritate sensitive mouth tissue. Another very good idea would be to get a water pik and use it 2x a day with warm water and some non-alcoholic mouthwash along with brushing and flossing after every meal. Eat a healthy balanced diet, eliminating junk food like candy, sodas, etc.

If you want to read info about oral cancer (OC) here is a link to our main OCF site where you can read page after page of correct, up to date medical info about getting an OC diagnosis and anything/everything you could read on this subject. By learning more about OC from a reputable source, the more you will understand the steps we have outlined are what is necessary to find out whats going on and to get it taken care of.

Good luck with everything!!!

[url=https://oralcancerfoundation.org/understanding/]Main OCF Site, Understanding section[/url]