Oral cancers. 30,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer  this year. It will cause over 8,000 deaths, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day. Of those 30,000 newly diagnosed individuals, only half will be alive in 5 years. This is a number which has not significantly improved in decades. The death rate for oral cancer is higher than that of cervical cancer, Hodgkin's disease, cancer of the brain, liver, testes, kidney, or skin cancer (malignant melanoma). If you expand the definition of oral cancers to include cancer  of the larynx, for which the risk factors are the same, the numbers of diagnosed cases grow to 41,000 individuals, and 12,500 deaths per year in the US alone. Worldwide the problem is much greater, with over 350,000 to 400,000 new cases being found each year.

The death rate associated with this cancer is particularly high due to the cancer being routinely discovered late in its development. Often it is only discovered when the cancer has metastasized to another location, most likely the lymph nodes of the neck. Prognosis at this stage of discovery is significantly worse than when it is caught in a localized area. Besides the metastasis, at these later stages, the primary tumor has had time to invade deep into local structures. Oral cancer is particularly dangerous because it has a high risk of producing second, primary tumors. This means that patients who survive a first encounter with the disease, have up to a 20 times higher risk of developing a second cancer. This heightened risk factor can last for 5 to 10 years after the first occurrence. There are several types of oral cancers, but 90% are squamous cell carcinomas.

Understanding the causative factors of cancer will contribute to prevention of the disease. Age is frequently named as a risk factor for oral cancer, as most of the time it occurs in those over the age of 40. The age of diagnosed patients may indicate a time component in the biochemical or biophysical processes of aging cells that allows malignant transformation, or perhaps, immune system competence diminishes with age.

However, it is likely that the accumulative damage from other factors, such as tobacco use, are the real culprits. It may take several decades of smoking for instance, to precipitate the development of a cancer. Having said that, tobacco use in all its forms is number one on the list of risk factors. At least 75% of those diagnosed are tobacco users. When you combine tobacco with heavy use of alcohol, your risk is significantly increased, as the two act synergistically. Those who both smoke and drink, have a 15 times greater risk of developing oral cancer than others.

Tobacco and alcohol are essentially chemical factors, but they can also be considered lifestyle factors, since we have some control over them. Besides these, there are physical factors such as exposure to ultraviolet radiation. This is a causative agent in cancers of the lip, as well as other skin cancers. Cancer of the lip is one oral cancer whose numbers have declined in the last few decades. This is likely due to the increased awareness of the damaging effects of prolonged exposure to sunlight, and the use of sunscreens for protection. Another physical factor is exposure to x-rays. Radiographs regularly taken during examinations, and at the dental office, are safe, but remember that radiation exposure is accumulative over a lifetime. It has been implicated in several head and neck cancers.

Biological factors include viruses and fungi, which have been found in association with oral cancers. The human papilloma virus, particularly HPV16 and 18, have been implicated in some oral cancers. HPV is a common, sexually transmitted virus, which infects about 40 million Americans. There are about 80 strains of HPV, most thought to be harmless. But 1% of those infected, have the HPV16 strain which is a causative agent in cervical cancer, and now is linked to oral cancer as well. There are other risk factors which have been associated with oral cancers, but have not yet been definitively shown to participate in their development. These include lichen planus, an inflammatory disease of the oral soft tissues.

There are studies which indicate a diet low in fruits and vegetables could be a risk factor, and that conversely, one high in these foods may have a protective value against many types of cancer.

After a definitive diagnosis has been made and the cancer has been staged, treatment may begin. Treatment of oral cancers is ideally a multidisciplinary approach involving the efforts of surgeons, radiation oncologists, chemotherapy oncologists, dental practitioners, nutritionists, and rehabilitation and restorative specialists. The actual curative treatment modalities are usually surgery and radiation, with chemotherapy added to decrease the possibility of metastasis, to sensitize the malignant cells to radiation, or for those patients who have confirmed distant metastasis of the disease. 

Surprisingly, in addition to the anti-inflammatory action disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,416, Applicants have found evidence suggesting that using the inventive compositions inhibits the development and growth of oral cancers. Without being bound by any particular mechanism of action, Applicant expects that chronic inflammation contributes to carcinogenesis in oral cancers, and further expects that aberrant arachidonic acid metabolism, especially as relates to COX and 5-LOX activities, is associated with carcinogenesis in the human oral cavity. The inventive subject matter is based on the discovery that a combination of certain herbs properly extracted and blended in appropriate proportions can used in treating oral cancers. Thus, Applicants expect that compositions comprising a therapeutically effective amount of extracts of  turmeric are effective in treating oral cancers.