Lip Cancer

Diagnosis

At Mayo Clinic, your doctor will look at your lips, mouth, throat and nose for scales, sores, discoloration, hardening or numbness. You may need to have a small tissue sample removed (biopsy) for lab analysis to look for cancerous or precancerous cells. In some cases, a biopsy is part of surgical treatment rather than a separate procedure.

If your doctor suspects that cancer has spread beyond the surface of your lip, he or she may order one or more imaging tests, such as an X-ray, ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or a positron emission tomography (PET) scan. In tests that involve radiation, specialists carefully monitor doses to avoid the risk of radiation overexposure.

Read more about biopsy, ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, and PET scan.