Tongue cancer, findings from community-based nucleic acid testing!

In Hubei, during a nucleic acid test organized by the community, Ms. Liu accidentally discovered a huge lump under the root of her tongue. The doctor determined that Ms. Liu had tongue cancer. Ms. Liu was very surprised and panicked by this unexpected discovery. She did not pay attention to it in her daily life, and was unable to receive timely diagnosis and treatment when she developed tongue cancer.

The doctor said that the MRI examination showed that the mass at the root of the tongue was huge, with a size of about 47 mm × 46 mm × 45 mm, and invaded part of the tongue forward and part of the floor of mouth muscles downward. The biopsy pathological diagnosis was considered to be adenoid cystic carcinoma at the root of the tongue.

The type of adenoid cystic carcinoma at the base of the tongue that Ms. Liu suffers from is relatively rare and insensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Surgery is Ms. Liu's best treatment option.

Tongue cancer is the most common oral cancer, and its incidence ranks first among oral and maxillofacial malignant tumors in my country.

The above figure is a survival curve of tongue cancer patients found on Aichacha Tumor Think Tank (www.51100fen.com) based on the patient's condition (58 years old, female, tongue cancer).

The survival curve refers to a curve drawn by type of death, with the patient's survival time (unit: month) after cancer diagnosis as the horizontal axis and the logarithm of the number of surviving patients as the vertical axis. It reflects the probability of cancer patients surviving at different times after diagnosis.

There are two ways to express the survival rate after cancer diagnosis. One is based on the number of patients who died of the cancer, which is called the cancer-specific survival rate. The other is based on the number of patients who died of all causes (cancer, heart disease, accidents, suicide, etc.), which is called the overall survival rate.

The survival curve in this figure is calculated using the most commonly used KM algorithm. Generally speaking, a high curve with a gentle decline indicates a high survival rate or a longer survival period; a low curve with a steep decline indicates a low survival rate or a shorter survival period.

For clinicians, the cancer-specific survival curves and overall survival curves in this figure are helpful in answering patient inquiries and serving as a reference for treatment effects and formulating follow-up plans.

What is tongue cancer?

Tongue cancer is the most common oral cancer, accounting for 1.5% of all malignant tumors in the body and 5% of malignant tumors in the head and neck. Tongue cancer is more common in people over 40 years old, with a male-female incidence rate of 2:1. Tongue cancer is the most common oral cancer, and oral cancer is not only one of the common malignant tumors in the head and neck, but is also known as the "sixth most common cancer in the world." In addition to tongue cancer, there are many other types of diseases, such as gum cancer and lip cancer. Tongue cancer often metastasizes to the cervical lymph nodes in the early stage and to distant organs such as the lungs in the late stage.

The treatment of tongue cancer is a bit like that of nipple cancer. The earlier the treatment, the less needs to be removed, and the function can be preserved as much as possible.

If these 4 symptoms appear frequently, you should pay attention to it, beware of tongue cancer

1. Don’t ignore the increase in saliva. Sometimes there will be some blood in the mucus, which is often mistaken for a common cold or fever.

2. Itchy and sore throat, difficulty eating and drinking, sore throat after swallowing food, and loose teeth. It is generally mistaken for a symptom of getting angry.

3. The articulation of tongue cancer patients is not as clear as before, and sometimes they may stutter.

4. When tongue cancer reaches the late stage, most of the tongue coating will ulcerate and there will be many oral ulcers.

Who are the high-risk groups for tongue cancer?

1. People with precancerous lesions such as leukoplakia and erythema on the tongue mucosa, especially erythema, have a greater tendency to become cancerous.

2. People with tongue inflammation or oral ulcers that do not heal for a long time have a tendency to develop cancer.

3. People with poor oral hygiene are prone to cancer.

4. People with bad teeth, such as uneven teeth, residual crowns and roots of teeth, sharp teeth or gum edges, poor dentures, especially metal dentures, which can stimulate the tongue mucosa for a long time and easily lead to cancer.

5. Smokers, especially those who smoke cigars or pipes, are prone to tongue cancer.

6. Drinkers, especially those who drink strong liquor for a long time, have a 15 times higher chance of developing oral cancer than normal people.

7. People who like to eat spicy or hot food frequently irritate and burn the tongue mucosa, which is prone to cancer.

Pay attention to oral health and keep your mouth and teeth clean

If tongue cancer is found in the early stages, there are certain treatments. However, in the middle and late stages, like other cancers, it is basically difficult to treat. Even if there are some treatments, it is difficult to prevent the tongue cancer cells from spreading, and the treatment effect is not very ideal at this time.

Facing tongue cancer, a cancer that most people have never seen or even heard of, we must remain vigilant. Once there is a problem in the mouth, we still need to go to the hospital for examination. In addition, we should keep our mouth and teeth clean, brush our teeth frequently, and avoid fried or grilled foods, so as to stay away from tongue cancer.