Lip cancer.

Lip cancer is the process of transforming the normal flat epithelium of the lips into an atypical one. At the same time, atypical cells begin to randomly and randomly divide, and a malignant tumor process is formed.

Lip cancer is not common among allneoplasms (1.5-2%), but this process is malignant enough and brings a lot of cosmetic defects. According to statistics, the cancer of the upper lip occurs twice as often as the cancer of the lower lip, and mainly this disease occurs in the female.

Cancer of the red border of the lips is one of the ten most common oncological diseases and is ranked 9th in the frequency of occurrence.

The age group of patients who are predisposed to the development of this process - the patient over the age of 50 years, men over 60 years.

It should be noted that rarely cancerous transformation of cells occurs against the background of complete well-being, most often there are a number of factors that contribute to the launch of the oncological chain.

In the first place, such factors should be attributed to a permanent mechanical or chemical trauma:

- frequent and prolonged smoking

- drinking alcoholic beverages

- use of narcotic substances (laying on the lower lip, resorption)

too hot and hot food

- use of substandard cosmetic preparations (cream, lipstick, balms and lip gloss)

- incorrectly placed dentures, braces.

Living in adverse weather conditions, with winds prevailing or very low or high temperatures.

Lip cancer can also develop as a result of the presence of a birth defect, when a small part of the lower lip remains exposed to the upper.

Herpes virus infection (frequent recurrence) often becomes a trigger mechanism in the development of lipomatology.

Lip cancer: the first signs that should make a person seek advice from an oncologist:

1. Appearance of itching in the area of ​​the border of the lips. Itching gradually increases, sometimes there is scratching, cracks, maceration. An infection can occur and an inflammatory process is formed.
2. In the lip area begins to form a dense infiltrate, which does not move, slightly painful when palpation.
3. At later stages, the infiltrate becomes crimson-gray or cyanotic, can be covered with a crust. If you peel the crust, you can detect an erosive defect. Edges of erosion are bright red and not even.
4. The formation of ulcers at the site of erosion occurs almost at the last stage of the development of cancer of the lip. An ulcer can become inflamed as a result of infection.
5. Lip cancer is often manifested not by a single infiltrate, but by several small ones, which during the progression of a tumor can merge and form one large conglomerate.
6. The spread of the infiltrate can occur in the buccal region, around the neck, into the parotid salivary gland. As a result, their inflammation, swelling and pain occurs.
7. Pain syndrome is characteristic of lip cancer at all stages, except the last one, when the tumor process affects the nerve endings, and they die.
8. At the stage of metastasis, there are clinical signs of involvement of lymph nodes and internal organs.

Lip cancer, the symptoms of which are not pronounced and the clinical picture only begins to manifest, proceeds more gently for the patient, it is more pliable in terms of treatment.

If lip cancer therapy is initiated on the initialstages, when the process of metastasis has not yet begun, then a prolonged disease-free course of such a disease and a more favorable prognosis for the patient are possible. The main thing in the therapy of lip cancer is early diagnosis and timely chemotherapy.