All About Tongue Cancer: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis
About Tongue Cancer
Tongue cancer can develop in the mobile part of the tongue (the tip and midsection), and the base of the tongue. The cancer is given different name depending on where they develop. A tongue cancer that develops in the mobile tongue can also be called mouth or oral cancer. The tongue cancer that develops at the base of the tongue might be referred to as an oropharyngeal cancer.
The most common type of tongue cancer is called squamous cell carcinoma. This type of cancer develops in squamous cells, which are flat skin cells that line the interior of the mouth, as well as the nasal passages and throat.
The main risk factors for tongue cancer are tobacco and alcohol use. Both cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products such as snuff and chewing tobacco are risk factors. In fact, people who use smokeless tobacco products are at much higher risk of tongue cancer than cigarette smokers.
Symptoms and Diagnosis
The most common tongue cancer symptoms that might develop include the following:
- A sore on the tongue that is slow to heal or does not heal at all
- Patches of discoloration, commonly red or white, that don’t go away
- Chronic sore throat
- Sore spot on the tongue that doesn’t go away
- Pain when swallowing or chewing
- Numbness in the mouth
- Bleeding from the tongue that isn’t caused by an injury
- Swelling of the tongue, gums, lips or other areas inside the mouth
- Feeling of a lump in the throat
- Rapid or dramatic unintended weight loss
- Dentures no longer fit correctly, or teeth feel as though they don’t fit in the mouth
Diagnosis cannot be carried out on the basis of tongue cancer symptoms alone. A biopsy must be carried out to confirm a diagnosis of tongue cancer. Other medical tests might be performed to determine whether the cancer has metastasized.
Tongue Cancer Treatment and Prognosis
Treatment for tongue cancer depends on the location of the tumor, how large it has grown, and whether it has spread from the tongue to other parts of the body. Two other important factors are the age of the patient, and his or her overall physical health.
For people who are in otherwise good physical health, surgery to remove oral tumors is the most common treatment. Surgery is generally followed up with chemotherapy to kill any cancer cells that remain.
For tongue cancer treatment to be most effective, it must be diagnosed early. Unfortunately, only around one third of cases are diagnosed when the cancer is still confined to its point of origin. In approximately two thirds of people diagnosed with tongue cancer, it has spread to local lymph nodes or has metastasized.
In the United States, more than 10,000 people are diagnosed with tongue cancer each year, and almost 2,000 people die. The five-year survival rate for this type of cancer is approximately 60 percent.
References
Benoit J Gosselin, MD, FRCSC, for eMedicine: Malignant Tumors of the Mobile Tongue
Cancer Help UK: Tongue Cancer
Daniel J Kelley, MD, for eMedicine: Malignant Tumors of the Base of the Tongue
National Cancer Institute (US) Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results: Tongue Cancer Fact Sheet
