My dad has stage 3 cancer on his gums in April. The cancer was small, 2cm. As a precaution, he had a bilateral neck dissection. Unfortunately 1 of the 27 nodes came back positive. As a result, he had radiation. He finished his 33 rounds to his neck and jaw in September.

He's been experiencing some pain on the right side of his neck where a tooth was removed. His regular CT scan follow up took place this week. Because of the concern for the area where tooth was removed, the dr asked me to call to check in on results. Unfortunately, we heard back today. The area of the tooth isn't an issue, but looks like there's some activity on his tongue and an area in the neck. The doctor scared me, but said nothing is confirmed until a biopsy is done. We see the surgeon in a few days.

Is it possible to have false CT scans? My dad doesn't complain of his tongue and his cancer was on the left side. Does an abnormal scan automatically mean cancer? It's only been 5 weeks since treatment completion and 5 months after initial surgery.

-concerned daughter

Welcome to OCF!

What Ive seen here regarding false positives is with the PET scan, not the CT. I have to assume anything is possible. Swelling or infection can cause the scans to light up and show false positive results. Im surprised if your father finished rads only last month that he was given a scan so quickly. He needs time to recover and for the swelling to go down. Usually a follow up scan is done 3-4 months post rads.

Our saying around here goes.... its not cancer until the biopsy says it is.

Wishing your father all the best with his follow up appointments. Hoping it turns out to be nothing more than doing the scan too quickly after finishing rads.

Best wishes!

Hi there... CTs pick up inflammation, and infection as well.

That said - there was a lot of involvement in your dads nodes, and while it was just his gum area it's possible that it has spread.

Tongue cancer can be aggressive but if caught early enough and treated aggressively it can be cured, I think it has something to do with location, much like base of the tongue and tonsillar cancer.

Gum and cheek can be a bit more jumpy from what I gather. from it's location it can move a little bit around the oral mucosa so it can recur in different locations a bit more easily than the others. Christine has been through it and had a few recurrences.

I am hoping very much that it's not a recurrence, but a biopsy as always is the only way to know. Keeping my fingers crossed for you and your dad.

hugs.

So, biopsy came back positive. They are considering this a second primary since it's not on the same side as the original cancer. Dr says it's quite rare that a second cancer would appear this quickly, especially after treatment. Good news is it small and hasn't spread beyond the oral tongue. my fathers scheduled for surgery next month which is the next available appt. hoping things go well and we kick cancers butt 2x and say adios for good.

Im very sorry for your fathers recurrence!!!! Its always all of our worst fears to have a recurrence. I know its not easy but try to keep your father thinking positive. Im one of the lucky ones who has survived OC 3 times within 3 years. I almost gave up but the great members of this forum convinced me to keep trying.

Best wishes with everything!

Concerneddaughter

I'm so sorry to hear the news of your fathers recurrence. I feel your pain believe me. I'm a concerned daughter also only its my mother instead. After reading your post it almost sounds like the same thing that has happened to my mother. In my mothers case she had surgery and half her jaw removed in March 2014 recovered and completed her 35 RADS in June 2014 . Her ear began to hurt so CT and MRI showed recurrence in the first week of Sept. 2014 only 6 months after her 1st surgery. So a second "urgent"surgery took place two weeks later to remove the recurrence.

In the back of my mind I'm thinking maybe Chemo should have been ordered with the RADS from the beginning and maybe the cancer wouldn't have come back so soon. But I guess I wont talk about the should've ,could've ,would've . We will just look forward from here. So as of today my mother is in the hospital on her second day of Chemo "Cisplatin + 5-FU" and we are praying it works for her.

Good Luck to you and your family

Heidi

Sorry to hear about the recurrance so soon after treatment. I've had three oral primaries and have had good quality of life in between. I thought I had it beaten four years after my second surgery. It did come back just after that but it might not have and there's always the hope that no further primary will occur. I think there's a lot of hope for your father and wish you both well.

Well that totally sucks!! I did respond to you in the other forum about what the surgery entails. Gum cancer can jump around a bit usually it is to other areas of the gum/jaw/cheek but I suppose the tongue is a possibility too. Thankfully they are on the ball.

Okay one thing I didn't know was that he had radiation previously this will make his healing from the surgery a bit harder. but if he is in good health hopefully it will go smoothly - hugs.

Really sorry to hear you are back in the fight so soon. One good thing is it has been detected early. Hope the treatments get it all this time around.

Thank you everyone for the support and reassurance that things can be okay. It's been an exceptionally difficult week with the news taking a mental and emotional toll on everyone. Surgery is in 3 weeks and I am not sure how we are going to make it til then. He's in so much pain that meds aren't working.

My dad, understandably, thinks things are worse than they are. He says he's dying and there's more cancer than the doctors are telling him. I feel comfortable with his dr and I think he's being honest when he says he will get it all and cure this cancer. I wish I could fast forward 3 weeks just so my dad can be in less pain.

My heart goes out to you and your family. It's going to be rough for a while and I believe many of us felt just like your father when this started. You will get through this.