He Ignored the Signs, Thinking It Was a Ca.n.ker Sor.e—Now His T.o.n.gue Is Gone!

Discovering an ulcer on his tongue, the man thought it was a canker sore so he bought medicine to take himself but it did not get better. 6 months later, the patient had to have his entire tongue removed when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

On December 4, a representative of Nguyen Trai Hospital (HCMC) said that doctors had just received treatment for a patient with severe cancer, with rapid disease progression, in just a few months.

The patient is Mr. N.V.P. (64 years old, living in HCMC). Taking his medical history, 6 months before being admitted to the hospital, the patient discovered an ulcer on his right tongue, causing pain. Thinking it was a canker sore, the man bought medicine to take himself but it did not get better.

Over time, the ulcer grew larger, harder and bled easily, making it very difficult for the patient to eat and drink, only being able to drink water and milk. 2 weeks before being admitted to the hospital, because of the pain, the patient was taken to the doctor by his family. At this time, the tumor in the tongue was large, stuck to the floor of the mouth, causing him a lot of pain, difficulty speaking, and unclear voice.

At Nguyen Trai Hospital, the patient had a biopsy of the tumor, the result was squamous cell carcinoma (malignant tumor) of the tongue, and was ordered to be hospitalized immediately.

During the examination, the doctors noted that the malignant tumor in the patient's tongue was 4x3cm in size, hard and unevenly concave and convex, causing ulcers, easy bleeding, many pseudomembranes, invading and sticking to the floor of the mouth.

The tumor limited the patient's tongue's movement, causing difficulty swallowing and making daily activities very inconvenient. The patient also had metastatic lymph nodes under the right jaw, measuring 0.7cm.

After a hospital-wide consultation, the patient was diagnosed with stage 4 tongue cancer. For treatment, the man was given a plan to remove the entire tongue, then reconstruct the tongue with a large pectoralis muscle flap with a vascular pedicle.

Before the procedure, the doctors consulted the patient and his family about the condition, surgical method, post-operative care and feeding, as well as the possible risks during treatment. The patient was also given nutritional supplements and carefully prepared for the pre-operative steps.

Thanks to that, the surgery went smoothly. Four days after surgery, the patient had his airway removed and was given swallowing and pronunciation exercises. Currently, the man's surgical wound is healing well, reducing pain. The patient can eat milk, and his ability to speak has recovered 50%.

Specialist 2 Doctor Nguyen Minh Tien, Deputy Head of the Department of General Surgery, the main surgeon for Mr. P. shared that the method of reconstructing the tongue using a muscle flap with a vascular pedicle helps patients with tongue cancer restore their ability to speak and swallow, improving their quality of life.

This is a complex surgery, requiring the expertise and experience of the surgical team, especially close coordination between surgeons, oncologists and the post-operative rehabilitation team.

Doctors recommend that tongue cancer, if detected early, has a great impact on the treatment outcome. However, the initial signs of the disease are often quite faint and easily overlooked, causing many patients to be hospitalized when they are already in the severe stage.

Therefore, when experiencing any unusual symptoms on the tongue, cheeks or any location in the oral cavity... people need to go to the hospital immediately for examination, detection of the condition and timely treatment.

In addition, people at high risk of the disease, such as people over 40 years old with a history of smoking, drinking alcohol and people with unsafe sex habits... should also be screened regularly to detect tongue cancer early.