What are the chances of throat nad mouth cancer in a 19 and a half year old boy?

Question

i quit smoking 2 months ago.....i thought i had mouth or throat cancer,but the i checked with 2 docs,one physician and one ent specialist....both said its very unlikely at my age and that i had chronic pharyngitis.....one of em even said that the chances of throat and mouth cancer at my age is one in 10000 people,still i got 2 scared and i have decided to quit smoking....full stop,just needed to confirm.please answer my question

Answer 1

Extremely unlikely. But if it's enough to scare you to stop smoking, great!

People who smoke for longer periods of time, or even short ones, suffer from many temporary ailments such as smoker's cough, excessive phlegm, bronchitis, sore throats, mouth pain, etc. This is all a side effect of the tobacco.

I developed asthma while smoking (only smoked til I was 22), and once I quit, it went away. Also had several bouts of pneumonia, my lungs got scarred a bit but nothing too bad. Also caused a lot of ear infections etc. Smoking is just crappy, so it's great that you quit, but I guarantee you that you don't have throat or mouth cancer.

The chances of that are extremely slim even if you are 60 and have smoked for 40 years.

So don't worry! Your doctors know what they're doing! Just lay off the cigs.  

Answer 2

The chances of developing throat cancer at your age are very low, slightly higher than if you had never smoked, but still very low.

If you do stop smoking completely, your chances of developing throat cancer will be the same as that of a non-smoker, in two to three years.

You might notice that you have sore gums after stopping, the cause is still unknown but it's completely normal.

Answer 3

not to worry you but I'm 23 and i have smoked for only 2 yrs i got a lump in the back of my throat and one on my neck i went to a ENT and he had me gargle steroids for 3 weeks and said if it didn't go away then it could be throat cancer i have to get a biopsy done now...so dont ever let someone tell you your too young that makes me mad because it can happen look at me im young and scared to deth so fight for answers and make them do tests because its better when its found early i think why people belive it can only happen to older people is because they could of had it for year but they just found it.... i hope its not in your case god bless!!!

Answer 4

I think the docs have given you a realistic answer.

I chances are very very slim and if they have seen you about it they would have got it checked out if they were concered.

Please stop worrying about this. You've given up now and done the right thing. I think thats fantastic, well done!

Live life with your new smoke free lungs and enjoy yourself! :)