my case was very similar to nelie's and cathy g's. had a lesion on left lateral border of tongue for a while that wasn't even discolored and only hurt when i ate spicy foods. for a while a thought it was caused from my teeth rubbing against my tongue. i asked doctor friends and no-one had an answer. saw my gp and he said its prob nothing. one day around 6-8 months into this my roomate comes home having seen a billboard with a woman sticking her tongue out and a message "don't let this grow up to be oral cancer". that was the first time the C word entered my mind. immediately went to dentist then oral pathologist for diagnosis of SCC. thought about suing my dr who said its prob nothing but didn't bother. luckily it hadn't spread to nodes. i have my last radiation reatment tommorrow for my recent recurrance and when i recover i plan to get much more involved in education and early prevention causes.