Oral Cancers and the Vaccine that Helps Reduce Your Cancer Risk
- Country singer Loretta Lynn’s daughter, Cissie Lynn, 71, is facing cancer recurrence and preparing for surgery. She says the cancer returned after a decade in remission in her mouth as a form of oral cancer.
- Oral cancer can occur anywhere in the mouth, including the tongue, gums, lining of the mouth, and back of the mouth near your throat. Common symptoms include a sore lump in your mouth, lip, throat, or neck. Difficulty swallowing and a persistent sore throat are other common signs of oral cancer.
- Though not all oral cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, there is a link.
- The vast majority of humans in the United States, both men and women, will eventually get infected with HPV, according to Dr. Allen Ho, a head and neck surgeon at Cedars-Sinai. The HPV vaccine is recommended to protect against these cancers.
Country singer Loretta Lynn’s daughter is asking longtime fans of her late mom for prayers as she prepares for cancer surgery. Cissie Lynn, 71, says cancer she previously dealt with has returned in her mouth. “I’m way too emotional and scared this time,” Cissie Lynn said in a social media post garnering tons of support and prayers.
“I go to Vanderbilt for cancer surgery again. At least it has been ten years since my first one. That’s a blessing. This one is worse than the other. It’s also is I’m my mouth,” Lynn said in an emotional Facebook post.
Today, Loretta’s daughter Cissie is undergoing a critical surgery in her battle against a recently reoccurring cancer. Your prayers for Cissie and her family would mean so much to us. The Lynn Family pic.twitter.com/u7jk3WM3hX
Read More— Loretta Lynn (@LorettaLynn) February 12, 2024 Cissie Lynn is one of six children of Loretta Lynn. Loretta died peacefully in October 2022 at age 90. She was an iconic country music singer known for songs like “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” During her career, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is a two-time Grammy winner.Details on the exact type of oral cancer Lynn is facing remain unclear. Likewise, the type of surgery Lynn will undergo has not been publicly disclosed. A decade ago, Cissie Lynn’s health scares brought her family closer together. In September 2014, Loretta Lynn postponed an Iowa show to support her daughter for a medical procedure, Taste of Country reported at the time.
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As Cissie copes with her latest health scare, she copes without her famous mom.
“God, how I wish my sweet mama could just hold me tonight,” Lynn said.
Expert Resources on HPV
- ‘Controversial’ HPV Vaccine Shown to be Highly Effective in Wiping Out Cervical Cancer
- ‘People Need to Know That HPV Can Cause These Cancers’: Survivor Pushes for HPV Vaccine Education
- A Major New Effort Announced to Vaccinate Young Boys Against HPV and Cancers Linked to Sex
- A Reminder About HPV-Linked Cancers From Survivor & ‘Desperate Housewives’ Actress Marcia Cross
- Busting the Myths About the HPV Vaccine
Coping with Oral Cancer
Oral cancer can occur anywhere in the mouth, including the tongue, gums, lining of the mouth, and back of the mouth near your throat.
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research says some common symptoms of oral cancer may include:
- A sore lump in your mouth, lip, or throat
- Persistent sore throat
- Lump in your neck
- Trouble swallowing or moving your jaw or tongue
- Pain or bleeding in your mouth
- Ear pain
“From the 1980s to the 2010s, the rate of HPV-related head and neck cancers has gone up by 300 percent,” Dr. Ted Teknos, a head and neck cancer specialist and president and scientific director of University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland, Ohio, told SurvivorNet during a previous interview.
Though not all oral cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, there is a link.
RELATED: Why the HPV Vaccine is so Important in Preventing Cancer
WATCH: Understanding the Human papillomavirus.
The vast majority of humans in the United States, both men and women, will eventually get infected with HPV, according to Dr. Allen Ho, a head and neck surgeon at Cedars-Sinai.
“The important thing to know about HPV is that there are many different strains, and only a couple of them tend to be more cancer-inducing,” Dr. Ho previously told SurvivorNet during an interview. “Probably less than 1 percent of the population who get infected happen to have the cancer-causing virus that somehow their immune system fails to clear, and over 15 to 20 years it develops from a viral infection into a tumor and cancer.”
While surgery is often required to remove the cancerous cells, other treatments include chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted drug therapies. If the cancer is advanced, some of these treatments can affect a patient’s ability to eat or speak, though it’s possible to regain those functions through rehabilitation therapy.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you are worried about cancer treatment costs, here are some questions you can ask your doctor to kickstart your way to solutions.
- What will my treatment cost?
- Will my medical insurance cover my treatment?
- How long do you expect my cancer treatment to last?
- What options do I have if I can’t afford my medication?
- Can you recommend a financial counselor or navigator to talk with?
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