Oral cancer also known as mouth cancer is now the tenth most common cancer in men according to new figures released by Cancer Research UK Tuesday.

This latest data shows around 7,300 people were diagnosed with oral cancer in the UK in 2012 and twice as many men than women diagnosed with the disease –around 4,900 males and 2,400 females.

It is the fifteenth most common cancer in women.

Over the last decade, cases of oral cancer have risen from around 4,500 back in 2002. The incidence rate of the disease has increased by a third over ten years, rising from 9 per 100,000 people in 2002 to 12 per 100,000 in 2012.

There are around 2,300 people who die from oral cancer in the UK every year, around 1,500 men and around 770 women.

Oral cancers include cancer of the lips, tongue, mouth (gums and palate), tonsils and the middle part of the throat (oropharynx).

Around nine out of 10 oral cancer cases in the UK are linked to major lifestyle and other risk factors.  For example, an estimated 65 per cent of oral cancers in the UK are linked to tobacco smoking. The human papilloma virus (HPV), drinking alcohol and having a diet low in fruit and vegetables have also been linked to oral cancer.

Higher smoking rates in men are largely responsible for the greater number of cases in men and an estimated 70 per cent of oral and pharyngeal cancers in males in the UK are linked to tobacco smoking.

Mouth cancer, also known as oral cancer, is where a tumour develops on the surface of the tongue, mouth, lips or gums