Will tongue cancer definitely cause pain?

Tongue cancer is a malignant tumor in the oral cavity. It usually occurs at the edge of the tongue, then at the tip and back of the tongue or the surface of the tongue. There are many causes of the disease, but the early symptoms are not obvious, which leads many people to ignore it. Tongue cancer grows quickly and is not treated until it becomes serious. Therefore, people do not know much about the symptoms of tongue cancer. Does tongue pain mean it is tongue cancer? Will tongue cancer definitely cause pain?

Most of the early symptoms of tongue cancer are not obvious. In the early stage, it manifests as small mucosal nodules, which gradually form obvious lumps and ulcers. When combined with infection, it causes severe pain, which radiates to the face and ears on the same side. When tongue cancer invades the floor of the mouth, tongue movement is restricted, the tongue is fixed, eating is difficult, and speech is unclear. Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue body is more likely to occur in the middle 1/3 of the tongue edge, followed by the tongue belly and the northern part of the tongue. It can appear red and white, with a smooth or fine granular surface, and a few have ulcers; in the late stage, it can be cauliflower-shaped. The tongue body becomes hard.

Tongue cancer can manifest in three early stages: ulceration, exophytic, and invasive. In some cases, the first symptom is only tongue pain, which can sometimes be reflected in the temporal region or ear. The exophytic type may be caused by the malignant transformation of papilloma. The invasive type may have no protrusions or ulcers on the surface, which is the easiest to delay the disease, and patients often cannot detect it early.

Tongue cancer often presents with ulcers and infiltration, accompanied by spontaneous pain and varying degrees of tongue movement disorders. In the late stage of tongue cancer, it can directly exceed the midline or invade the floor of the mouth, as well as infiltrate the lingual periosteum, bone plate or bone of the mandible. It can extend backward to the root of the tongue or the anterior pharyngeal pillar and the lateral wall of the pharynx. At this time, the movement of the tongue can be severely restricted and fixed, and the saliva increases and overflows, and it cannot be controlled. Eating, swallowing, and speaking are all difficult. The pain is severe and can be reflected to half of the head. The lymph node metastasis rate of tongue cancer is relatively high, usually around 40%. The deep cervical lymph node group is the most common metastatic site. In the late stage of tongue cancer, lung metastasis or distant metastasis to other parts of the body may occur.

Tongue cancer does not necessarily cause pain. There are no obvious symptoms in the early stage. In the later stage, pain, ulceration and other symptoms may occur. It is better to consult in time to clarify the specific situation. I hope my answer is helpful to you. I wish you good health.