They never smoked, but they got mouth cancer: What doctors want young people to know now
Published on: May 21, 2026, 7 a.m. | Source: Times of India
For years, mouth cancer carried a familiar image. Older men. Cigarettes. Long-term tobacco addiction. But doctors across India are now witnessing something deeply unsettling. Young adults in their 20s and 30s, many of them non-smokers, are walking into cancer clinics with advanced oral cancer.Some are fitness-conscious. Some have never touched cigarettes. A few are newly married or building careers. Yet the diagnosis is becoming increasingly common.India already carries one of the world’s highest burdens of oral cancer. According to the government-backed Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), oral cancer remains among the top cancers affecting Indians, especially because of widespread tobacco and areca nut use. ICMR National Cancer Registry ProgrammeDoctors say the problem today is not just smoking anymore. The danger has changed shape.
