Cancer symptoms: The colour patch on your tongue that could signal the deadly disease

Am I at risk?

It is not known the exact causes of most head and neck cancers, but several risk factors have been identified. 

Smoking tobacco (cigarettes, pipes, cigars) increases your risk of developing mouth and oropharyngeal cancer.

Research suggests that more than 60 out of 100 (more than 60 percent) of mouth and oropharyngeal cancers in the UK are caused by smoking.

There is some evidence that people exposed to secondhand smoke (passive smoking) at home or in the workplace may have a small increase in their risk of mouth and oropharyngeal cancer too. 

Source: Daily Express