Bringing Oral Cancer Awareness to the Digital Age
How Experts and At-Risk Individuals Shaped the Vision for a Better Health App
A Growing Concern
Oral cancer affecting the lips, mouth, and throat remains a serious global health threat. In 2022 alone, nearly 390,000 new cases and 188,000 deaths were recorded worldwide. The disease is strongly linked to lifestyle factors such as tobacco and alcohol use, betel quid chewing, and oral sex, along with newer risks like ultraviolet exposure due to climate change.
Despite being largely preventable and curable if detected early, public awareness of oral cancer remains strikingly low. This lack of knowledge highlights the need for better, more accessible health education tools.
Why Mobile Health Apps Matter
Digital technologies especially mobile health applications (mHealth apps) are transforming the way people access medical information. Studies show that such apps can improve health literacy more effectively than traditional campaigns. However, very few apps exist for oral cancer education, and most are limited in scope or audience.
That’s where Kanmodi and colleagues stepped in. Their study sought to understand what makes a good educational app for oral cancer, from the perspectives of both digital communication experts and individuals at risk.
Inside the Study
Researchers conducted four online focus group discussions involving 17 participants from five countries, including digital media professionals, sexually active adults, and tobacco or alcohol users. The discussions explored:
What people know about oral cancer
Whether they have used educational health apps
What features would make an app useful and engaging
What Participants Revealed
🔹 Knowledge Gaps and Misconceptions
Many participants could describe oral cancer generally, but misconceptions persisted some thought mouthwash or dental caries caused it. Others shared that family members turned to herbal or spiritual treatments instead of medical care.
🔹 Where People Learn (and Don’t Learn)
Most participants relied on Google searches, social media, or friends and family for information. Surprisingly, none had ever used a dedicated oral cancer health app mainly because such tools simply don’t exist yet.
🔹 Optimism Toward mHealth Solutions
Nearly all participants believed a mobile app could boost public understanding of oral cancer if designed well. They wanted information that was clear, trustworthy, and simplified for general users.
What Makes a “Good” App?
Participants identified several must-have features for an ideal oral cancer education app:
Practical oral health tips
Ability to find nearby dental clinics
Interactive tools such as streaks or progress tracking
User-friendly interface with both offline and online access
Content in multiple languages and formats (text, infographics, videos)
No ads or subscription fees
In short, they envisioned an app that was accessible, inclusive, and engaging a digital space where learning about oral health feels empowering rather than overwhelming.
Why It Matters
The study highlights a clear opportunity: while the world embraces digital health tools, oral cancer education has lagged behind. Co-creating apps with input from both experts and end users ensures that future mHealth interventions are relevant, inclusive, and effective in improving health literacy across populations.
As lead author Dr. Kehinde Kanmodi notes, such insights are vital for developing “a more comprehensive and inclusive mobile health application that can educate diverse populations on oral cancer.”
Reference
Kanmodi K.K., Jayasinghe Y.A., Jayasinghe R.D., Onuoha S., Amzat J., Salami A., Nkhata M., & Nnyanzi L.A. (2025). The understanding of digital communication experts and oral cancer at-risk persons on oral cancer, their uptake of educational mobile health applications on oral cancer, and their opinions on how a good application of such should look like: findings from a qualitative study. BMC Oral Health, 25:224. DOI: 10.1186/s12903-025-05614-1