The harm of tongue cancer cannot be ignored

I believe that everyone has a certain understanding of the harm of cancer, but what about the harm of tongue cancer? In fact, tongue cancer is also a kind of cancer, and its harm cannot be ignored. Next, let us introduce the harm of tongue cancer in detail, so that everyone can understand why the harm of tongue cancer cannot be ignored.

Tongue cancer can invade the floor of the mouth, mandible, palatoglossal arch, and tonsils. The closer the lesion is to the root of the tongue, the more malignant it is. Since the tongue is active, with abundant lymphatic vessels and blood circulation, it is easy to metastasize to the lymph nodes at an early stage. Tongue cancer can metastasize to distant sites, most commonly the lungs.

The reason why tongue cancer is so scary is that it is invasive and metastatic. So what are the symptoms of tongue cancer?

1. Tongue cancer is often complicated by infection, and in the late stage it is often complicated by tissue necrosis, hemorrhage, and aspiration pneumonia.

2. Metastasis to the lingual and cervical lymph nodes occurs early, often limited to the pharyngeal and deep cervical lymph nodes. Root ulcers may also occasionally metastasize to the posterior styloid process and retropharyngeal lymph nodes. A small number of patients may have hematogenous metastasis, often to the lungs.

3. In some cases, the early symptoms of tongue cancer include difficulty swallowing, aggravated pain when talking and eating, and may spread to the same side of the ear. In the later stage, the tumor infiltrates into the stratum corneum and spreads to the oral cavity, which may restrict body movement and cause constipation, resulting in drooling, difficulty eating, and systemic nutritional disorders.

4. In the early stage of tongue cancer, there are often nodules or swellings at the edge of the tongue. Later, as the disease progresses, ulceration occurs in the center of the swelling and spreads to the parenchyma and para-epithelial tissue. The ulcer may appear cauliflower-like, with raised edges and an obvious hard infiltrated mass at the base.

In daily life, we should strengthen cancer prevention surveys to achieve early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment. If there is erosion, cracking or ulceration on the tongue surface, we should pay great attention to it; pay attention to oral hygiene, brush teeth in the morning and evening, remove residual roots and crowns of teeth, correct inappropriate dentures; control smoking and drinking, and eat less irritating foods.