Toung Cancer and moved to Lump nodes

Hello

Thanks for getting in touch.

My name is George, and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

It can be extremely difficult and stressful when dealing with a cancer diagnosis of the tongue and when it spreads to the lymph nodes close to it. We do not have access to the NHS or private care records, and I can only give general support and information regarding your question. We recommend asking the specialist team any questions you may have, as they are best positioned to answer specific questions. 

Cancer can sometimes travel to the lymph nodes in the surrounding area to the primary cancer. Cancer found in the surrounding lymph nodes is sometimes treated differently from cancer in other, more distant areas of the body away from the head and neck. There is no way of knowing if cancer has spread or is spreading beyond the lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are often removed during surgery to check for cancer that may have detached from the original primary tumour and made its way to the nodes. In this situation, they often recommend chemotherapy to help treat any cancer cells that may still be in the body. This can often be called Adjuvant therapy or ‘mop up chemotherapy’.

The specialist consultant will be able to help answer your question and discuss statistics and possible outcomes from different treatments.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get back in touch by email, webchat or phone. The Macmillan Support Line offers practical, clinical, financial and emotional support. You can call us free from landlines and from most mobile phone networks* on 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week, 8am – 8pm.

REF: GHi/AMc