Hi Dr. Joshi!
I'm turing 30, newly married and planning for children and just trying to take stock of my future I guess. I chewed for about 14 years, got up to a can a day for about 2-3 years. Had short periods where I quit and started. I no longer use tobacco of any kind. Generally healthy person otherwise.
So I know we can't predict oral cancer, but would you care to wager on my chances? Would I be high risk, low risk? I know people get it without smoking or drinking and some people smoke/chew their whole lives and never get it. You really never know. I know I shouldn't dwell on it but sometimes thinking of the future makes us fear our pasts. Anyone care to weigh in? I won't hold you to your answer

Thanks for your time!
Best Wishes
David

Hi David

I'm one of those oddities who never smoked, rarely drank, yet ended up with stage 2 tongue cancer.

The best suggestion I can give is to see your doctor as soon as you can. Just like the rest of us, you and your care team will have to be vigilant, and make sure that any sore or lesion in your mouth is treated as soon as possible.

Congratulations on giving up chewing tobacco, though.

Julia

David,

I'm the same as Julia....no tobacco at all! So I would agree that you are in a "higher risk", but it's not a slam dunk where you have to wait on your reservation.

Here's the best thing I have for you, find a dentist that is sensitive about mouth cancer. Truly some of these guys will say "You know, I'm up on my pathology, but I don't know what that is"... and leave it there. The first sign of a spot (white/red, sensitive to spice or not) watch for 14 days,..if it doesn't fade away after two weeks have it biopsied. Don't wait another week!!!

I thought for two years that I had a "callous" on my tongue. (this was the diagnosis without biopsy).

14 days, still there? Biopsy!

Thats the best I have to offer from personal experience and reading the topic.

Best wishes,

Bob (Pembo)

Hi Runner10,

Unfortunately I'm one of those people who did smoke, and use to drink regulary. I did stop drinking about 5 years ago, but smoked up until my diagnose of Stage II cancer at base of tongue back in April. It's seems like a year has past already (not!), but my doctors now feel that I'm 'cured'. Not positive yet until final tests in a month or two, but it's encouraging.

It's a long journey so I do hope you are free and clear of it's dangers.

Best wishes on your nuptials, Cricket

i think if we knew when and why we might be able to cure.........no answers.....

Your post has been haunting me for a few days and I wrote the following and then decided it sounded too trite, too greeting card-ish, so I just tucked it away. But the more I thought of it, the more I decided that maybe it's at least partially true after all. Take what you need, if anything; ignore the rest.

Hi Runner!

First of all, congrats for giving up chew. You really started young but you also quit young - that's the important part. Dipping adds a risk factor but as you've read on this message board, so many of our members never used tobacco products at all. As time goes on your risk will get smaller and smaller.

As one of my oncologists said (I paraphrase), "A propensity for a cancer type might be genetic, might be due to the environment or life style or a host of things we haven't recognized as contributing factors yet. On the other hand, it's a crapshoot. Take your pick. I've seen enough to believe the crapshoot theory is valid."

The possibility of cancer, earthquake, terrorist attack, mudslide, tsunami - it's life in 2008 and was life centuries ago. Judging by what's going on in the world, it's not going to get much better; not in my lifetime anyway, perhaps in yours. Raise a loving family, treat your fellow human beings, animals, and the environment kindly. That's what you can do; it's senseless to attempt to outguess nature, karma and the vagaries of mankind.

Be vigilant with mouth care and see your dentist regularly. There are people who finally venture onto the board who say they've had 'a small growth/lump/red spot/white spot/sore spot/mass for six months. Should they be worried?' Yikes!

Make sure you have good dental insurance and find yourself a techno-savvy dentist to whom you can lay out your concerns. The dentist will appreciate your respect for professional knowledge and also get to use a new gadget occasionally. Right now the good ones are using a handheld computer-assisted oral screening tool (I don't know the name of it!) and Oral CDx. (Here, a dentist uses a small brush to gather cell samples of a suspicious area.The specimen is then sent to a lab for computer analysis. In a recent study of 945 patients, Oral CDx detected all cases of oral cancer correctly, even when dentists didn't suspect the presence of cancer from the lesion.) My dentist doesn't have this stuff! I'm looking for a new one....

Oral CDx

My brother was conceived when my Dad was home on shore leave during WWII; it was a planned pregnancy where, despite it all, they had hope for the future. They were right and gave the world a fresh water fish zoologist! We've got a couple of generations who are glad they didn't weigh the odds.

Relax and love and live. Be smart. That's the best you can do.