Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue Dorsum: Incidence and Treatment Considerations

Makiko Okubo; Toshinori Iwai; Hideyuki Nakashima; Toshiyuki Koizumi; Senri Oguri; Makoto Hirota; Kenji Mitsudo; Iwai Tohnai

doi:10.1007/s12070-016-0979-z

Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue Dorsum: Incidence and Treatment Considerations

Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017 Mar;69(1):6-10. doi: 10.1007/s12070-016-0979-z. Epub 2016 May 7.

Authors

Makiko Okubo¹, Toshinori Iwai¹, Hideyuki Nakashima¹, Toshiyuki Koizumi¹, Senri Oguri¹, Makoto Hirota¹, Kenji Mitsudo¹, Iwai Tohnai¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-9 Fukuura, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0004 Japan.

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue is the most common oral cancer. Most cases occur on the lateral border of the tongue and only very rarely on the dorsum. We retrospectively investigated the incidence of SCC of the tongue dorsum in our department between April 2006 and March 2015. Of the 368 patients with tongue cancer, only 3 had SCC of the tongue dorsum (incidence, 0.8 %). All patients with advanced cancer of the tongue dorsum underwent superselective intra-arterial chemoradiotherapy for organ preservation. We discuss the present findings in relation to past case reports and series in the English language literature as well as discuss treatments for SCC of the tongue dorsum.

Keywords: Chemoradiotherapy; Incidence; Squamous cell carcinoma; Tongue dorsum; Treatment.