Report shows squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Please suggest what to do.

Question

Hi doctor,

My mom had gone through a biopsy, and the report came today. The report shows SCC - well-differentiated invasive on the right lateral side of the tongue. My uncle died from leukemia. She also has nephropathy, t2DM, and hypertension. She has been taking medicines for the past 12 years. GFR is less than 60 ml per min. So kindly suggest to me what to do.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

The biopsy (attachment removed to protect patient identity) shows tongue cancer. So, now she has to undergo further investigations such as CT (computed tomography) or PET (positron emission tomography) scan to rule out metastasis (cancer spread to any other part). After all these investigations, the oncologist will stage the cancer. (There are four stages).

Once the staging workup is completed, she may need surgery to remove the tongue lesion or radiotherapy with weekly chemotherapy, depending on the stage.

During treatment, she may experience side effects that may affect her daily activities.

The common cause of tongue cancer is smoking, chewing tobacco, snuff, gutka (tobacco), pan (betel), etc.

Early-stage tongue cancer is usually curable. I wish her full recovery.

Thank you.