An overview of tongue cancer
A type of cancer that starts in the cells of the tongue, tongue cancer can cause tumors or lesions on an individual’s tongue. It is a type of head and neck cancer. When the tongue cancer occurs on the front side of the tongue, it is called “oral tongue cancer”. While when the tongue cancer occurs at the base of the tongue, where it attaches to the bottom of the patient’s mouth, it is called “oropharyngeal cancer”. The most common type of tongue cancer is squamous cell carcinoma, it occurs on the surface of the skin, in the lining of the throat, mouth, thyroid, nose, and larynx, or the lining of the digestive and respiratory tracts.

Below is some information about the stages of tongue cancer, its symptoms, and more.

What are the stages of tongue cancer?
Tongue cancer is classified using grades and stages. The stages represent the spread of cancer. Each stage has three possible classifications:

• The size of the tumor is referred to as T. T1 is a small tumor and T4 is a large tumor.
• Whether or not cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in the neck is referred to as N. Cancer has not spread is represented with N0 while N3 is used to represent cancer has spread to many lymph nodes.

What are the grades of tongue cancer?
As mentioned above, grades and stages are used to classify tongue cancer. The grade represents how aggressive is cancer and what is the likelihood of it to spread. The three stages include:

• Low-grade tongue cancer (it is slow-growing and is unlikely to spread)
• Moderate-grade tongue cancer
• High-grade tongue cancer (it is very aggressive and is likely to spread)

What are the symptoms of tongue cancer?
Tongue cancer and other oral cancer are very similar to each other as their symptoms are almost alike. The signs of tongue cancer are almost similar to a cold that won’t fade, or a sore in the mouth that persists longer. Pictures of tongue cancer can help in better understanding the signs and symptoms of this health condition. Other tongue cancer symptoms may include:

• Pain in the jaw and tongue that persists for a long time.
• A lump or thick mass developing on the inside of the mouth.
• The appearance of white or red patches on the gums, tonsil, tongue, or the lining of the mouth.
• A persistent feeling of having something stuck in the throat or a feeling of a sore throat.
• Trouble swallowing or chewing anything.
• Movement of the tongue or the jaw becomes very difficult.

What are the risk factors and causes of tongue cancer?
Some of the risk factors and causes of tongue cancer are:

• Commonly, elders above the age of 55 years may develop tongue cancer.
• It is more common in men than women.
• Smoking or chewing of tobacco
• heavy drinking
• Being affected by a sexually transmitted disease (STD) like the human papillomavirus (HPV)
• A family history of tongue cancer or other mouth cancers
• Chewing betel
• Personal history of certain cancers
• A poor diet
• Poor oral hygiene

How is tongue cancer diagnosed?

• For tongue cancer diagnosis the doctor will first understand the patient’s medical history, including personal and/or family history of cancer, whether you chew betel or smoke or drink.
• After that, a physical examination of the mouth is carried out to look for signs and symptoms of tongue cancer like unhealed ulcers. Additionally, the doctor will also check for swelling in the nearby lymph nodes.
• If the doctor finds any sign of tongue cancer, he or she will do a biopsy of the area suspected of having cancer. An incisional biopsy is the most commonly used type of biopsy. However, the doctor may also do a newer type of biopsy called a brush biopsy.
• The cells from either type of biopsy will be analyzed in a lab.
• If the individual has tongue cancer, the doctor might do a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan or a computed tomography (CT) scan to understand the stage and the grade of cancer.