Mouth cancer can affect anyone

He never drank. He never smoked. At 70, he still runs.

General practitioner Ian Roberts was not someone you'd expect to get mouth cancer.

"My awareness of oral cancer was that it was something that happened to smokers and drinkers," he said.

He was 68 years old when his dentist sent him to a specialist for review of what turned out to be stage 4 oral cancer.

Dr Roberts lost part of his jaw, a row of his teeth, and all the glands in his neck to the cancer. He underwent six weeks of radiation therapy in addition to surgery.

His latest test results showed he was cancer free. He says he's been incredibly lucky. The prognosis had not been good.

Sharing his story ahead of World Head and Neck Cancer Day (Sunday 27 July), Dr Roberts stressed the importance of being on the lookout for worrying symptoms that hang around; and the vital role GPs and dental practitioners play in detection.

"As a GP I've seen people with a sore throat, and they think it might be tonsillitis but it's actually cancer on the tonsils," he said.

"The dentist was suspicious the first time I went there.  The gum adjacent to the root canal treatment was inflamed and she looked at it and decided it wasn't a standard problem and sent me straight away to the oral surgeon.

"If you've got anything that looks strange that doesn't heal in three weeks, it needs to be reviewed, and it doesn't just have to be the smokers and drinkers."

In 2023, 5,300 Australians were diagnosed with head and neck cancer, while 1,200 Australians lost their lives. There are more than 17,000 people living with the effects of head and neck cancer treatment diagnosed in just the past five years.

Signs to look out for:

• persistent, non-healing mouth ulcer or lump for longer than 2-3 weeks
• unexplained neck lump
• white or red patches (e.g. leukoplakia) in the mouth
• unexplained tooth mobility or non-healing extraction site.

Access information about The Victorian Oral Cancer Screening and Prevention program.