What Are Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancers?
Cancer starts when cells in the body start to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer, and can spread to other parts of the body. To learn more about how cancers start and spread, see What Is Cancer?
Oral cavity cancer, or just oral cancer, is cancer that starts in the mouth (also called the oral cavity). Oropharyngeal cancer starts in the oropharynx. This is the part of the throat just behind the mouth. Most cancers that form here are a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. But other types of cancer, and other benign growths and tumors, can also form.
The oral cavity (mouth) and oropharynx (throat)
To understand these cancers, it helps to know the parts of the mouth and throat.
The oral cavity includes the lips, the inside lining of the lips and cheeks (buccal mucosa), the teeth, the gums, the front two-thirds of the tongue, the floor of the mouth below the tongue, and the bony roof of the mouth (hard palate). The area behind the wisdom teeth (called the retromolar trigone) can be included as a part of the oral cavity, but it's often thought of as part of the oropharynx.
The oropharynx is the part of the throat just behind the mouth. It starts where the oral cavity stops. It includes the base of the tongue (the back third of the tongue), the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth), the tonsils, and the side and back walls of the throat.
illustration showing location of the back wall of the oropharynx, floor of the mouth, lower lip, gums, tonsil, retromolar trigone, soft palate, hard palate
The oral cavity and oropharynx help you breathe, talk, eat, chew, and swallow. Minor salivary glands throughout the oral cavity and oropharynx make saliva that keeps your mouth and throat moist and helps you digest food.
Tumors and growths in the oral cavity and oropharynx
Many types of tumors (abnormal growths of cells) can develop in the oral cavity and oropharynx. They fit into 3 general categories:
Benign growths are not cancer. They do not invade other tissues and do not spread to other parts of the body.
Pre-cancerous conditions are harmless growths that can turn into cancer over time.
Cancer tumors are growths that can grow into nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body.
Benign (not cancer) tumors
Many types of benign tumors and tumor-like changes can start in the mouth or throat, such as these:
Eosinophilic granuloma
Fibroma
Granular cell tumor
Keratoacanthoma
Leiomyoma
Osteochondroma
Lipoma
Schwannoma
Neurofibroma
Papilloma
Condyloma acuminatum
Verruciform xanthoma
Pyogenic granuloma
Rhabdomyoma
Odontogenic tumors (tumors that start in tooth-forming tissues)
These non-cancerous tumors start from different kinds of cells and have a variety of causes. Some of them may cause problems, but they're not likely to be life-threatening.
