Women are increasingly suffering from mouth cancer because they are drinking and smoking more, a Bradford surgeon warned today.

Consultant Stephen Worrall said incidences of the disease, which is more lethal then cervical cancer, were growing fastest among women under the age of 60.

And Mr Worrall, who is an Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon at St Luke's Hospital, blamed the "dramatic" rise on women's changing lifestyles over the last 30 years.

Victims of the little-known cancer are still predominately men aged 60 and over, but women under the age of 60 had suffered the biggest increase in the number of cases diagnosed, he said.

The number of oral cancer cases diagnosed in Bradford was also higher than the national average of four-and-a-half per 100,000 head of population.

"What we are beginning to accept is the theory that the increase in oral cancer among women under the age of 60 is related to them drinking and smoking more," said Mr Worrall.

Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world and kills almost 1,600 people a year in the UK where about 3,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. Mr Worrall, who treats victims with radiotherapy and surgery, said late diagnosis meant that 62 per cent of those diagnosed with the disease died within five years.

He said: "Oral cancer is not a common cancer but it is now more lethal than cervical cancer.

"The trouble is that in this country because it is still not talked about patients come to the dentist or doctor too late when there is little we can do.

"There has been a dramatic increase in the number of cases in people under the age of 60, but the biggest increase is in younger women.

"The worst case scenario is that cancer cannot be treated and it comes through the patient's face and they die a very lonely and horrible death.

"But the flip side of the coin is that if you get it diagnosed early you can cure it and the treatment does not have to be that invasive.

"The ones who come early with a small cancer, well over 96 per cent will survive."

Mr Worrall said anyone who noticed a new lump or ulcer in their mouth which did not cleared up within two to three weeks should visit their dentist immediately.

Doctor Naresh Sharma, who runs a dental surgery in Cemetery Road, Heckmondwike, also urged people to get regular check-ups from their dentist to guard against oral cancer.

Early signs and symptoms include persistent mouth ulcers, warty lumps and nodules, white, red, speckled or pigmented lesions or difficulty with speaking or swallowing and enlarged neck nodes.

"With oral cancer there is no pain initially in the mouth, it's often just an area which doesn't heal. That's why it is so dangerous," he said.

"The main risk factors come from smoking and drinking. I'm particularly interested in combating the disease among the Asian community as it is traditional to chew tobacco in the form of paan or betel quid which is particularly high risk."