carcinoma of the tongue

Can you imagine only having half of your face left because of carcinoma of the tongue that has metastasized to other portions of your face? I do believe that would make life a bit harder, but would definitely teach you a good lesson in life about why we should take care of ourselves.

First of all you need to understand that there are two parts of the tongue. There is the part that is considered the oral tongue and there is the part that is identified as the base of the tongue. This is important because the patient will exhibit different signs and there are different treatments whenever a patient is diagnosed with carcinoma of the tongue.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the tongue is by large the main type of cancer that occurs in the tongue, but there are other types of rare forms of cancer. Usually an individual will come to a physician complaining of tongue pain, a lesion that just will not go away, sensitivity of a lesion that is easily irritated and bleeds easily for a long period of time, difficulty swallowing, change in the sound of the patients voice, or sometimes a patient will exhibit a sense of being full. Most of the time the lesion is located on one side of the tongue and strays from the normal pink hue that a tongue usually has, when referring to cancer of the oral tongue. Now with carcinoma of the base of the tongue the patient is going to exhibit the symptoms that seem to be a little more severe, like the changing of the sound of the voice, difficulty swallowing, possible neck pain( due to metastasizing).

Most of the time a patient who has been diagnosed with have two main options. The individual will be given the opportunity of surgery or radiation therapy. Most of the time surgery is pushed due to the fact that a patient who may have recurring lesions, then radiation therapy will be an option. Some patients might complain about how surgery could possibly disfigure there tongue therefore causing issues with speech, but doctors like to point out that there is hardly in change in how a patient might speak if any change. It is debatable though about what method is best for the patient. those individuals who do have poor heart health and would be put in a dangerous situation if placed under anaesthesia, then these individuals are good candidates for radiation therapy.

Unfortunately many individuals will let tongue cancer go and this will cause metastisation that will travel down to the neck and up to the brain. Individuals are recommended to see a dentist on a regular basis so that they may be able to get check ups regularly to monitor any possibilities of carcinoma of the tongue to occur.