A few of my relatives have had cancer over the years, but not many. And the one who developed lung cancer was a grandparent who smoked three packs a day and was diagnosed in her 60s.

So, when I was diagnosed with a type of oral cancer called squamous cell carcinoma in August 2018, I was shocked. I was only 31 at the time. And I learned later that this disease is not something typically seen in anyone under the age of 60 who doesn...