What are the potential complications of lip cancer?

Complications of untreated lip cancer can be serious, even life threatening in some cases. You can help minimize your risk of serious complications by following the treatment plan you and your health care professional design specifically for you. Complications of lip cancer include:

• Altered physical appearance

• Interference with the ability to eat, drink, talk or breathe

• Spread into nearby structures, such as the skin around the lip, mouth, tongue and mandible (lower jaw bone)

• Spread to distant areas of the body

• Spread to lymph nodes in the neck