Tongue cancer

robinegreif

I read that it's really rare (5 percent of people get it) but I had a tongue surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering two and a half years ago. They sliced off the side of my tongue. Now a pre cancer has appeared in the same and another spot. I'm scared. There are things I'd like to be able to do again including voiceovers and singing jazz. I definitely need a normal tongue to do both. Plus I want to be normal and live. Only a cancer survivor can truly understand this.

wbcgaruss

Hello, robinegreif, and welcome to the CSN H&N discussion forum.

It seems you are very aware and on top of the possibilities of cancer occurrence and recurrence and very aware of what is going on with your body since you now have found and had determined something that is determined to be a pre-cancer in the area of previous cancer and another area also. You say tongue surgery for cancer is rare and only 5% of the population get it, I searched and can't validate that one way or the other. Although I believe that because it is not something often heard about.

I am not sure what your ideas are here exactly, I understand most of what you are saying.

My question is since you are now aware of 2 pre-cancers (Not cancer yet) what are the plans to address this issue?

So I looked up pre-cancer and found a great page explaining it from City of Hope and it seems a pre-cancer is most times something that is watched and monitored not treated at this time…

If a person is diagnosed with some type of dysplasia—whether in the
esophagus, colon, cervix, etc.—it doesn’t mean they will develop cancer.
It does mean they’ll need some type of surveillance and treatment plan
to manage it.

The takeaway is that a precancerous condition doesn’t mean a person
has or will get cancer. It simply means a person has an increased risk
of cancer, which should serve as a reminder for them to stay current
with medical visits and screening tests, and communicate concerns or
changes to their health care providers.

https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2022/09/does-pre-cancer-mean-im-going-to-get-cancer

So Robin whatever aspirations you have in your life like voiceovers and singing jazz I would recommend you get on with this at whatever level you can and don't let anything hold you back and continue with your regular health screenings to keep watch on things, enjoy life and go for it.

I would also recommend you check out the Superthread at the top of the page there is loads of information in there with links and you will find it helpful.

Wishing You The Best

Take Care, God Bless

Russ

robinegreif

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1714931#Comment_1714931

Thank you Russ. This is my fifth time with pre cancer in the same spot. Once it went to cancer. I am going to the top cancer hospital in NYC and also taking measures at home (if aspirin mouthwash is good enough for the Mayo Clinic it's good enough for me). Also xylitol gum and lozenges to make my mouth moist as dryness can cause this leukoplakia. It means a lot to me that you care enough to respond since I imagine you're here for similar reasons. Be well.

ProustLover

Dear Robingreif - hello…my husband struggled with leukoplakia for years before it turned into cancer, requiring tongue surgery in 2016 (they sliced off about a third of his lateral tongue). In his case, it spread to lymph nodes in neck about a year later, so there was more surgery, chemo, and rads. For the next three years, at one year intervals, a new patch of high grade dysplasia would develop at pretty much the same original spot. These patches were caught early, and treated by CO2 laser ablation. I'm writing this to tell you that at some point, there weren't any new patches. He's got problems aplenty, but leukoplakia and dysplasia aren't among them. Over time, yours may disappear too. In the meantime, stay vigilant, as I know you will.

robinegreif

Thank you. Very scary but I'm glad you told me. I'm glad he's okay now.