Tongue Cancer: What are my treatment options?

Hi @rkaspet, I can imagine that you're concerned that you might have cancer. If you would like to seek the opinion of Mayo Clinic experts, you can submit an appointment request online or call Mayo Clinic. See more information here: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

What has your doctor suggested as the next steps to confirm the diagnosis?

I am going to the Mayo on 10/17 for a initial consultation,I had my doctor here in Vegas chemo and radiation would be the only option

What treatments r there without removing tongue?

@rkaspet, I merged your 3 posts into one discussion and moved the discussion to the Head & Neck Cancer Group here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/head-neck-cancer/

I dd this so you can easily connect with other members who have or had tongue or mouth cancer like @alpaca @joemae1 @ezg @aalbb @gdawg @calenbd and others.

You'll be in great hands at Mayo Clinic as fellow Head & Neck Cancer members @msherfinski @jeffk @loli and @deborahe can share their Mayo experiences with you.

The main treatments for tongue cancer are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, either combined or on their own. Your treatment depends on how big the cancer is and whether it has spread (the stage). It also depends on which part of the tongue is affected. Your Mayo team will go over the options with you.

Which Mayo Clinic are you going to? Do you have question about preparing for your consult?

The mass of my throat right over my tongue,it’s large

The mass is large and it is far down my throat

I’m going to the mayo clinic in Minnesota

Hi @rkaspet It's horrible being in that limbo before a diagnosis and a treatment plan. But you will be in good hands. I've had tongue cancer starting with an ulcer on the side of my tongue. This was in the part of the tongue you can see, the oral tongue. Most of us have a partial glossectomy where part of the tongue is removed and replaced with tissue from the forearm. The remaining tongue can make this so called flap move so that we can talk and eat okay. It works very well. It's often followed by radiotherapy.
If the cancer is further back on the base of the tongue which you can't see, the treatment is chemo and radiation and this is a hard treatment but works well too.

Well, how tough is the chemo and radiation treatment?

It's tough but doable. Usually 6 weeks of short weekday radiation treatments which last about 15 minutes each and maybe three lots of chemo or weekly chemo. The worst part is that it affects the inside of your mouth and throat which become painful. BUT these side effects can be dealt with. Teams who run this treatment all over the world run like well oiled machines because it is such a distinct and well used protocol. They will look after you well.
To me, the magic is that chemoradiation can get rid of a tumour without surgery.