Non-smokers with oral precancerous lesions at increased risk of cancer

That's according to new research from the University of British Columbia has found.

Although tobacco use is still one of the strongest risk factors associated with mouth cancers, UBC dentistry PhD candidate Leigha Rock found that oral precancerous lesions in non-smokers are more than twice as likely to progress to cancer.

Furthermore, lesions in non-smokers progressed to cancer faster than smoking-associated lesions. The study was published this week in Oral Oncology.

Among the scientists' findings were that lesions on the floor of the mouth in non-smokers were 38 times more likely to progress to cancer than in smokers.

The study is also the first to report on quicker progression to cancer in non-smokers: both three-year and five-year rates of progression were seven per cent and 6.5% higher than smokers, respectively.