Overview of basic knowledge about tongue cancer

Tongue cancer may be very unfamiliar to most people, and they may not even know that it exists in the range of cancers. Tongue cancer, as the name suggests, is cancer of the tongue, but we don’t know how it is caused specifically or what type of cancer it is, so let’s take a look at the basic knowledge overview of tongue cancer today.

Tongue cancer is the most common oral cancer, and it occurs more often in men than in women. Most tongue cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, especially in the front 2/3 of the tongue. Adenocarcinomas are less common and are mostly located at the root of the tongue. Lymphoepithelial carcinoma and undifferentiated carcinoma may also occur at the root of the tongue. Tongue cancer mostly occurs at the edge of the tongue, followed by the tip, back and root of the tongue, and is often ulcerative or invasive. It is generally highly malignant, grows fast, and is highly invasive, often affecting the tongue muscles, resulting in restricted tongue movement, making it difficult to speak, eat, and swallow. Tongue cancer can invade the palatoglossal arch and tonsils posteriorly. In the late stage, tongue cancer can spread to the floor of the mouth and jawbone, fixing the entire tongue.

Tongue cancer often presents with ulcers and infiltration, accompanied by spontaneous pain and varying degrees of tongue movement disorders. In the late stage of tongue cancer, it can directly exceed the midline or invade the floor of the mouth, as well as infiltrate the lingual periosteum, bone plate or bone of the mandible. It can extend backward to the root of the tongue or the anterior pharyngeal pillar and the lateral wall of the pharynx. At this time, the movement of the tongue can be severely restricted and fixed, and the saliva increases and overflows, and it cannot be controlled. Eating, swallowing, and speaking are all difficult. The pain is severe and can be reflected to half of the head. The lymph node metastasis rate of tongue cancer is relatively high, usually around 40%. The most common metastatic site is the deep cervical lymph node group. In the late stage of tongue cancer, lung metastasis or distant metastasis to other parts of the body may occur.

In order to allow tongue cancer patients to recover as quickly as possible, it is recommended that patients with tongue cancer go to a regular hospital for examination and treatment as soon as possible. Early active and effective treatment will often have better cure results and greater hope for recovery. Delaying treatment or improper treatment will not be conducive to the patient's recovery.