Wow - I'm completely weirded out by how many of you had none of the "common" factors as well. Am I the only one who thinks that something doesn't quite add up? My mom has a theory that my partial crown (the one that broke while I was eating) may have been made of some material that, when my chipped tooth created the irritation on my tongue, the "foreign" material of the crown had a clear path to enter my cells... The crown in question, because it was not traditional, was made of a composite/resin type material... I can think of no other reason for cancer to appear in my case. As I said, we have no genetic predisposition to cancer in my family, I don't smoke, active lifestyle, eat well, maintain good weight... Seriously, I haven't had so much as a cold in years. I have mild seasonal allergies and I do have ADHD, but neither of these would be precursors to oral cancer.

I'm not walking around thinking "why me, why me??" although at first I did - but I am interested in understanding how this happened - if that can be determined, perhaps others can be spared this experience...

I was treated at MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) which is a learning medical facility so not only did I see my main doctor who is the director of the ENT oncology department, I saw a slew of residents as well. Hell, I signed papers letting them use my biopsy tissue and blood work, etc. for educational purposes.

I understand why a smoker or smoker + drinker might end up with cancer - cigarettes are carcinogenic after all - I understand genetic predisposition and perhaps even advanced age + poor oral hygiene causing this but nothing about my cancer and its very, very sudden appearance make any sense at all.

I am beyond obsessive about my mouth ever since I had to have a deep scaling when I was in high school due to a gum infection. Since then, I have been very aware of any changes in my mouth. I suppose that is why I found the lesion so early on - something just wasn't right and even though it seemed like such a tiny thing - I mean it looked like nothing more than a tiny red, slightly raised area but it felt constantly irritated. The irony is that it irritated me enough that I mentioned it to my dentist but just before that, I told my husband that I was going to bring it up to my dentist and he said "why would you tell your dentist about that?" and I said, "well it just seems logical, I mean she's inside my mouth so I would think she might know how to help me get rid of it..." I know he has kicked himself several times since my diagnosis, poor guy - but then my husband (like many men) avoids doctors and always plays things down when it concerns health, much to my dismay.

If nothing else, I have learned that NOTHING is too insignificant to at least discuss with your doctor.

But I am still very curious and would really like to know what caused it. A 30-year old survivor I met was diagnosed with her SCC when she was 24!!! Also a non-smoker, social drinker, otherwise healthy... She wore Invisilign braces and the lower set had a sharp edge that rubbed her tongue. She mentioned it repeatedly to her orthodontist who initially brushed it off and then had her stop wearing the braces altogether. She finally went to a doctor friend of hers to have a biopsy and since she is a nurse, she knew how to read her own path reports - needless to say that was a shock for her - for 9 months she went undiagnosed after she brought up the soreness to her orthodontist, during which hers spread to her lymph nodes. She had half of her tongue removed and flap reconstruction and many lymph nodes taken out and chemo and radiation... at 24!

I have to think that there is an underlying cause and for all we know, they may all be linked somehow...