Cancer Types Teams
Oral Cancer Team (OCT)

Starting date: September 2023

Work Programme

Each year, about 400 000 people are diagnosed with oral cancer and 200 000 people die from the disease globally. Oral cancer is the 14th most commonly diagnosed cancer type and the 15th most common cause of cancer death. Well-established risk factors for oral cancer include use of tobacco in all forms (smoked or smokeless), consumption of alcoholic beverages, and use of betel quid with or without tobacco. In regions where use of smokeless tobacco and/or areca nut is highly prevalent, oral cancer is a leading cause of death. However, oral cancer prevention is largely under-researched.

The overall aim of the Oral Cancer Team (OCT) is to develop innovative and collaborative research across multidisciplinary themes through cross-Agency and international collaborations, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The overall goal is to provide evidence that can be used to reduce the global burden of cancer.

OCT is developing activities around the following themes to reduce the global burden of oral cancer, particularly in LMICs:

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Current activities within OCT include the following:

Surveillance
Descriptive epidemiology of oral cancer, including:

• Global burden of oral cancer by subsite
• Inequalities in age at diagnosis of oral cancer
• Contribution of major risk factors to the global burden of oral cancer

Primary prevention
Studies assessing primary prevention of oral cancer, including:

• Cost–effectiveness analyses of primary prevention interventions for cessation of use of areca nut products without tobacco
• Smoking cessation intervention trial for smoking parents (SmokPar)

Early detection
Advancing early detection of oral cancer, through:

• Creation of an international network of oral cancer screening programmes to share best practices, enhance collaboration, and drive policy
• Development of an oral cancer risk score to optimize screening strategies for oral cancer (OC-RISK)
• Cost–effectiveness analyses of secondary prevention

Population-based epidemiology
Studies on molecular markers, patient stratification at diagnosis, and tertiary prevention, including:

• Prognostic models of oral cancer with genomic markers
• Patient and health-care factors affecting delays in diagnosis of oral cancer
• Genetic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region associations with risk of oral cancer

Knowledge mobilization
Reviewing and evaluating the evidence on oral cancer prevention, including:

• Research gaps on oral cancer prevention
• Evidence and gap maps of oral cancer prevention. Available from: https://handbooks.iarc.who.int/evidence-and-gap-maps/
• Development of recommendations for oral cancer screening

Team Composition

Team Leaders: Dr Shama Virani (Scientist), Genomic Epidemiology Branch (GEM), IARC
Dr Andre Carvalho (Deputy Branch Head), Early Detection, Prevention, and Infections Branch (EPR), IARC
Dr Béatrice Lauby-Secretan (Head, IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention Programme), Evidence Synthesis and Classification Branch (ESC), IARC
Dr Harriet Rumgay (Epidemiologist), Cancer Surveillance Branch (CSU), IARC

Team members:
Dr Paola Aristizabal Arboleda (Postdoctoral Scientist, CSU)
Dr Julia Bruno (Postdoctoral Scientist, ENV)
Dr Carol De Carvalho (Scientist, GEM)
Dr Suzanne T. Nethan (Visiting Scientist, EPR)
Dr Sandra Perdomo (Scientist, GEM)
Ms Thaís Esteves Pereira (Doctoral Student, EPR)
Dr Amanda Ramos da Cunha (Postdoctoral Scientist, CSU)
Dr Mahdi Sheikh (Scientist, EPR)
Dr Jiri Zavadil (Scientist, ENV)

Contact: OralCancerTeam@iarc.who.int

Key networks: International team with collaborators in Brazil, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Poland, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the USA; networks from multicentre studies, including the HEADSpAcE Data Center (https://headspace.iarc.who.int/); the IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention Programme (https://handbooks.iarc.who.int/).

Key funding: Institut National du Cancer (INCa), France; European Commission; United States National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Key resources

• IARC evidence and gap maps for oral cancer: https://handbooks.iarc.who.int/evidence-and-gap-maps/
• WHO Global strategy and action plan on oral health 2023–2030: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240090538
• IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention Volume 19: Oral Cancer Prevention: https://publications.iarc.who.int/617

Key publications

1. Rumgay H, Colombet M, Ramos da Cunha A, Filho AM, Warnakulasuriya S, Conway DI, et al. (2026). Global incidence of lip, oral cavity, and pharyngeal cancers by subsite in 2022. CA Cancer J Clin. 76(1):10.3322/caac.70048. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.70048 PMID:41335400
2. Deneuve S, Fervers B, Bruno JS, Bach E, Senkin S, Goldman-Lévy G, et al. (2026). Mutational signature-based classification uncovers emerging oral cancer subtypes with distinct molecular patterns. Int J Oral Sci. 18(1):38. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41368-026-00437-4 PMID:42031720
3. Mariano LC, Warnakulasuriya S, Lauby-Secretan B, Monteiro L (2026). Investigating the association between oral hygiene and oral cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Oral Dis. https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.70201 PMID:41840681
4. Nethan ST, Pérez-de-Oliveira ME, Campbell F, Santos-Silva AR, Lauby-Secretan B (2026). Interventions for oral cancer prevention: an evidence and gap map. Int J Cancer. 159(1):188–97. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.70391 PMID:41730778
5. Ebrahimi E, Sangphukieo A, Park HA, Gaborieau V, Ferreiro-Iglesias A, Diergaarde B, et al.; HEADSpAcE Consortium (2025). Cross-ancestral GWAS identifies 29 variants across head and neck cancer subsites. Nat Commun. 16(1):8787. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63842-z PMID:41038832
6. Sheikh M, Domingues A, Alcala K, Langdon R, Mariosa D, Feng X, et al. (2025). Regular use of pharmaceutical opioids and subsequent risk of cancer: a prospective cohort study and Mendelian randomization analysis. EClinicalMedicine. 89:103439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103439 PMID:41357337
7. Das S, Thakur S, Cahais V, Virard F, Claeys L, Renard C, et al. (2025). Molecular and cell phenotype programs in oral epithelial cells directed by co-exposure to arsenic and smokeless tobacco. Biofactors. 51(2):e70011. https://doi.org/10.1002/biof.70011 PMID:40056068
8. Rumgay H, Nethan ST, Shah R, Vignat J, Ayo-Yusuf O, Chaturvedi P, et al. (2024). Global burden of oral cancer in 2022 attributable to smokeless tobacco and areca nut consumption: a population attributable fraction analysis. Lancet Oncol. 25(11):1413–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00458-3 PMID:39393386
9. Gapstur SM, Bouvard V, Nethan ST, Freudenheim JL, Abnet CC, English DR, et al. (2023). The IARC perspective on alcohol reduction or cessation and cancer risk. N Engl J Med. 389(26):2486–94. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsr2306723 PMID:38157507
10. Bouvard V, Nethan ST, Singh D, Warnakulasuriya S, Mehrotra R, Chaturvedi A, et al. (2022). IARC perspective on oral cancer prevention. N Engl J Med. 387(21):1999–2005. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsr2210097 PMID:36378601