Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue Remaining Indolent for 8-Years

• Main Authors: Bipin Thomas Varghese, Keshav Rajan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2020-01-01
• Series: Journal of Head & Neck Physicians and Surgeons
• Subjects: medical economics; tongue neoplasms; squamous cell carcinoma; tumorigenesis
• Online Access: http://www.jhnps.org/article.asp?issn=2347-8128;year=2020;volume=8;issue=2;spage=150;epage=152;aulast=Varghese

Squamous Cell Cancer (SCC) of the tongue is generally known for its overall aggressive behavior. However, there are subsets within this group of cancers that behave differently in its clinical presentation, course, and outcome, and the insights into this are being elucidated with more and more accuracy. It is intriguing to note that some of these cancers present with aggressive primary with the late appearance of lymph nodes, whereas others in the opposite end of the spectrum would show up with very small primary and massive nodes. Knowledge of these variations in presentation and its clinicopathological correlation is essential to plan treatment strategies. Presented here is a case of a 49 year male with no habits, who had a diagnosis of tongue cancer but defaulted treatment and reported after eight years. Surprisingly he had no significant progression of lesion giving room for curative treatment. Besides giving an insight into the unique tumor biology, a possible link to health planning, and economics from a public health perspective is discussed.