Hi everyone! My initial tongue biopsy (where there is thickening on my tongue) came back negative which is great, well I thought so...... however my ENT is very unreassuring. Brushed the negative result aside very quickly and said he wants to take a bigger biopsy under anasthestic which is happening on Tuesday and have a feel around. . Just wondering if anyone had a negative tongue biopsy only to find out that there was cancer further into their tongue?
Im not sure how ppl sleep waiting on results etc as I feel this is when my brain starts ticking over but recently I've slept with one earphone in listening to music this has actually
Helped. Oh, Only one earphone as I have three little chickens I need to listen out for otherwise two would be even better!

It's possible, if not enough tissue sample was taken from the suspicious area or from the wrong area of a lesion during the biopsy, probably done in the office like scalpel, punch biopsy or FNAB. Your doctor is just reserving his opinion until further studies are done under anesthesia, and checking the other structures to be sure or not. Good luck with the biopsy. Try to relax, keep busy until then, which is easier said then done.

That happened with my husband. His first biopsy, by an oral surgeon, took only a tiny area of a leukoplakia (white patch) on his tongue, and the path report came back showing moderate dysplasia -- abnormal, but not cancer. The path report did warn about a possible "skip effect," meaning that there could be cancer in areas that were not biopsied -- so perhaps the pathologist saw something that raised a red flag but couldn't be stated definitively as cancer.

When my husband had the whole thing removed by an ENT a month later, that path report came back squamous cell carcinoma in situ (earliest stage).

This is exactly what happened to me - twice. For me anyay, it appears the cancer is not found until they do a full larger sized biopsy under anesthetic. Both of my dx in 2004 and 2007 were not caught until that was done.

Keep pressing to get the CORRECT answer. Early detection is the key to curing this.
Good luck with upcoming biopsy. It will be difficult to wait for the results - try to keep busy and keep your mind on other things - live in the moment. Once the results are back you will not even remember the waiting period, but at that moment it is a huge challenge. Keep posting - we are here for you.

Donna

Hi Sheila!

You are blessed to have an ENT who is looking out for you. I just spoke to someone who had their initial biopsy show up negative. A second one showed inconclusive; however, persistent ENT had a more thorough biopsy done and bingo, yes it was cancer there.

Even though the thought of recurrence is there, much better to be on top of it as early as can be diagnosed and treated.

good luck
don

Hi Sheila - my first biopsy was negative. 3 months later, a second biopsy finally came back positive. By then, the cancer was at a stage 3 or 4.
I wish my ENT had been as thorough as yours!
It's better to know for sure and get it treated right away if it turns out to be cancer. If it's negative again, then you can take a big sigh of relief.
Music is a great idea. I played computer games to keep my mind off of things. Hoping for the best.

Hi Shell, actually I think this is fairly common.
When Kris had his reoccurrence the ENT did a biopsy straight away in his office. It came back as as dysplasia but he said he needed to do a deeper biopsy under anaesthesia.
It came back as SCC. I knew it would. Kris had developed an ulcer on his Base of Tongue. The same area the ENT had been watching since Kris's radiation/chemo had finished.
Hope all goes well for you, and you get your results soonest. Keep busy and try not to dwell too much on it. You can not change it. What will be will be.
Tammy

Ditto to what everyone else said. Unfortunately - however. Your dr sounds really good. Hugs and blessings.