Hi
I have had a white jaggard lump inside my lip for about 8 months. Over the months it has grown and my lip has swollen noticeably. My dentist has referred me to a hospital for tests, however it may take up to 6 months for the appointment to come through. I am a 28 yr old light smoker/drinker and I have lived in very hot climates until the age of 10. I am very worried about this as I know I am a candidate for mouth cancer. I would like to know if there is anything else that could have caused the lump and swelling in my lip?

Hello Ange

If your dentist suspected a cancer, you would be fast tracked with only a 2 week wait at most. Lip cancers tends to occur in white Caucasians who are caused by exposure to too much sunlight (e.g. in Australia)on the exposed area of the lower lip. You appear to be describing something on the inner aspect. What you have might be something else, good reason to stop the smoking though.

Ask your dentist what he thinks it is. Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes
Vinod

Thanks for your reply. I now have an appointment for the maxillo facial surgery clinic for next week. I have had other symptoms that have lasted a few months such as a lump in my neck and swollen glands, however I did not associate them with my swollen lip until I researched into the subject. I am quite nervouse about my hospital appointment as I dont know what to expect, for example will they remove my lump and take xrays there and then?
Any advice would be appreciated
Thank you

Ok, all is fine.
The lump turned out to be a salivery gland which was removed at my appointment because my lip had become noticably swollen.

Hello Ange

That's good news. Often a minor salivary gland in the lip gets damaged through trauma (knock, lip nibbling, etc) and saliva escapes into the tissue to cause a swelling called a mucous retention cyst or mucocele. If you do a search for these words, you will find previous posts about lumps in the lower lip that turned out to be this.

Best wishes
Vinod