Let me share something with you... It's a debated topic... Being in the medical profession you are probably aware hat there is some question as to whether - long term chronic irritation can cause cancer! Some people believe it some don't - but lung cancer patients (small cell - smokers cancer) are a prime example of changes brought on due to long term chronic irritation.
I am a vegetarian (almost Vegan) I used to go to the gym daily!!! I did yoga - I have never smoked, never drank - seriously - I mean I tried alcohol 2 x when I was 15, that's it! I'm under 50 - for years it had a molar with a filling that was sharp the filling fell out a few times I had it replaced and so on.. One day my dentist spotted a thickened patch under my tongue - sent me to an oral surgeon... He removed it and biopsied it - it came back as thickened skin - likely built up over years to protect my poor tongue from trauma from that molar. The area was sensitive, but healed - then jump ahead a few years to where I had that molar capped (almost seven years now) my tongue in the same area started bothering me. It got progressively worse - had the cap filed down - the whole underside of my tongue on the left side was red. Had it filed a few more times - finally had a biopsy done - 3 yrs ago August - came back inflamed and irritated tissue. (at this point there was a lump IN my tongue (no open sore no whiteness) I thought it was scar tissue - the ENT didn't say anything... And the biopsy was negative - so we started looking to see if it was allergies- and I had the tooth filed again. This went on for years! Last August I had the molar beside the other molar capped - things got way worse!!! I had another biopsy one year ago tomorrow - it came back scc. There are two sides of the fence on whether chronic irritation can cause cancer. Do i think it can? Yes! Some websites list it as a cause of scc, some don't and drs answer differently - depending on who you ask... So keep a close eye on the area and do see your ENT. Good luck! And sorry you are going through this.