We don’t often hear about certain types of cancers, but this may be changing. Privately billed insurance claims from FAIR Health, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to health care costs and health insurance information, show an alarming rise in the number of people diagnosed with oral cancers — among men particularly.
The data shows a 61-percent increase in diagnosis from 2011 to 2015, with throat and tongue cancers showing the biggest spikes.
[lz_ndn video=31235596]
Oral cancer claims occurred nearly three times as often in males (74 percent) versus females (26 percent), FAIR Health reports, in a review of over 21 billion privately billed medical and dental claims.
Tongue and throat cancers were more likely to occur in men than women, and much more frequently in individuals who were age 46 years and older than in younger individuals.
Oral cancer is the eighth most commonly occurring cancer in males and has a high death rate. Nearly 50,000 Americans will be diagnosed with an oral cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS); approximately 9,570 people will die of the disease.
Tobacco in any form is the primary risk factor — along with excessive alcohol use and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
As with any cancer, early detection is critical to survival. Dentists may be the best first line of defense when it comes to screening.
To read more about cancer issues, click here.
Join the Discussion
Comments are currently closed.