Doctors are baffled by fourfold increase in young women with John Farnham’s cancer

John Farnham’s mouth cancer diagnosis has highlighted an alarming increase in the illness among a surprising group of Australians.

Exclusive: Lora Winter was just eight when she attended her first pop concert and fell in love with John Farnham’s music.

But now the pair share an even deeper bond.

The 43-year-old was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2017 and is one of hundreds of young women falling prey to an alarming and mysterious increase in the cancer.

An Australian study has found there was a 385 per cent increase in the incidence of mouth cancer in young women aged in the their 30s and 40s in the past 30 years.

Head and Neck Cancer Australia CEO Nadia Rosin said the huge surge was unexplained and not linked to smoking, drinking alcohol or the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) – which are the main the main causes of many of these cancers.

Traditionally men are more likely to be diagnosed with the cancer and the growing rate among women is a medical mystery researchers are trying to unpick, Ms Rosin said.

Ms Winter was 37 when she was stunned to discover a small ulcer under her tongue that wouldn’t heal turned out to be a Grade 4 cancer.

Lora Winter with her sons (from left) James, 8, and Samuel, 10. Picture: Rebecca Michael.

Lora Winter is one of hundreds of young women falling prey to an alarming and mysterious increase in mouth cancer. Picture: supplied

“I’d never heard of it and it was devastating,” Ms Winter said.

“It is such an isolating cancer because every type of social interaction involves talking”.

Learning this week that her pop icon John Farnham had the same type of cancer as her was “devastating on lots of levels”.

“I was the biggest fan ever of John Farnham and I when was eight I saw him in concert at the Tennis Centre because mum and dad couldn’t find a babysitter,” she said.

“I understand how long a journey he will have to recover,” she said.

During her marathon surgery five years ago, Ms Winter had 75 per cent of her tongue removed along with the floor of her mouth, her lower right teeth and 5mm of her right jaw.

Tissue was taken from her forearm and a skin graft taken from her left thigh to rebuild her mouth.

She was in hospital for almost a month after the surgery and had to learn to speak, eat and smile again.

Singer John Farnham is battling mouth cancer.

Her children Sam and James were aged just five and two at the time and they were what motivated her to get through the ordeal.

“They were so young I knew if I didn’t come through my children wouldn’t have any memory of me,” she said.

A 2020 study by Dr Laveniya Satgunnaseelan from Royal Prince Alfred’s Department of Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology found “an alarming rising incidence of oral tongue” cancer in young people in Australia and Singapore.

Her research published in Oral Oncology, found the incidence of tongue cancer in people under 45, particularly in young Australian an

d Singaporean women had risen by a staggering 385 per cent over 32 years.

Ms Rosin said the cancer afflicting otherwise healthy young women often starts as an ulcer that does not heal after two or three weeks.

“Most of these women do not have a history of smoking and drinking and we don’t know why it’s on the rise,” Ms Rosin said.

“Women know what to do if they have a breast lump, if they get an ulcer that doesn’t clear up after three weeks they should see their GP, it’s super important,” she said.

Last year more than 5,100 people were diagnosed with a type of Head and Neck Cancer and approximately 17,000 people were living with the side effects of treatment.