Hi,I was diagnosed with buccal mucossa 2 days ago,don't drink or smoke,had ulcer checked out by my dentist twice,was told not to worry about it.had cat scan today,no spread anywhere,dr said localized,go into surgery Thursday to have it cut out,they haven't told me what stage it is,I think they have to send it away,very frightened and confused at the moment

Welcome to OCF, Mandy!

Sounds to me whatever you have was caught very early if it is localized. Im assuming you mean you have oral cancer of the buccal mucossa (gums). Was it biopsed? Who is removing it?

If you arent comfortable with understanding everything that is going on, read and educate yourself, ask questions. An informed patient is able to advocate for themselves which can be necessary. There is so much important info on the main OCF pages and here on the forum we will help you.

Have you considered a second opinion? It probably would be a good idea to go to a comprehensive cancer center (CCC) and at least hear what they have to say. You have time if your tumor was found early. It could be a big difference in the quality of your physicians.

Best wishes!

Hi Mandy:
I think everyone deserves to get multiple responses to their first post. Unfortunately, most of us don't know much about buccal mucossa. I expect that is why you don't have many responses.

None-the-less you too deserve having people show they are interested in you as a cancer patient and member of this new family. So, welcome to the family girl. You now have a lot of new brothers and sisters who have something important in common with you, ie oral cancer. Either we have it, or we are caregiver to someone who does.

I wish I could give you specific advice, unfortunately that is not the case. I can however tell you I and many others are here to help you along the way. When you are feeling down, get on the forum and start writing. We know lots of ways to keep that depression demon on the other side of the front door.

So, don't be a stranger. Ask your questions no matter how trivial you think they are. Others who came before us helped us get through this, now we return the favor for those who come after us.

Welcome to the family Mandy.

Tony

Hi... I'm assuming you have cancer of the buccal mucosa - this in layman's terms is basically cancer of the lining of your mouth (buccal - mouth) ... it's usually cheek or gums. There are quite a few here who've had this cancer - is it Squamous cell? I'm assuming you've had a biopsy at this point so they should be able to tell you the type (squamous? Basal?)and the differentiation of the cancer (differentiation - is an indicator of aggressiveness - poorly differentiated is the most aggressive - well differentiated is the least). It helps to know this.
The best thing you can do is get treated for this cancer at a CCC - a CT may show no spread but what they don`t tell you is it can seed to the nodes in your neck and in the early stages (microscopic) it isn`t picked up on a scan. At a CCC they may recommend not only removal of the area but also removal of some nodes. This is usually the safest way to go - unless it`s HPV + cancer - which I think yours probably isn't.
Do your self a favor read up on your type of cancer and educate yourself. It will give you a good idea of what is NORMAL treatment for your type of cancer and it may give you answers to some questions you may have - and most importantly it will give you some questions you may want to ask your dr.

anyway... welcome. I am so sorry. I know this is terrifying but you can get through it and those of us here who've been there will do what we can to help. hugs.

i had my buccal mucosa tumour removed 2 weeks ago,they cut it out from inside my cheek,there was a clear margin right around incision,went back when patholigy results where in,they said they got it all so i needed no further treatment,iwas scared i was going to need radiation or neck dissection but they are just going to moniter me closely over the next couple of years

Hi Mandy:
I hope it works out just that smoothly for you. Depending on how often the docs are going to see you, you need to keep a close eye on the surgical area if you can see it. Be looking for anything unusual, unusual texture in the skin, unusual color, things that look like sores or ulcers, anything. If you can't see the area, maybe you can feel the area with clean fingers.

I would be inclined to do this "look" at least every two days for the next several months. If anything shows up and doesn't resolve itself within 2 weeks, it's worth a call to the doc.

I know you are happy with the news you've been given. But, it's time to remain vigilant.

If you need us, we are here.

Tony

Also keep a close eye on your neck area. This cancer can seed to the nodes and it is not caught on a scan in the early stages. So if you find a swollen lymph node make sure you go back immediately.

Welcome and best of luck.

I dont understand how a cancer that has been surigally removed with clear margins can appear in your neck nodes a couple of months later,if the margins are clear how did the cancer escape to the neck,im sorry just confused how this awful thing works

Cancer can go anywhere, but "usually" has a known path of travel like metastasizing through the lymph nodes, blood, vein or nerve lines, other nearby structures, and there can be secondary, synchronous or metachronous cancer from field cancerization from exposure to carcinogens, which is not always just tobacco. Clear margins may also differ between doctors what is a clear margin or not, I forget the size areas, but like one may consider 5mm clear, another may say 1cm, and then want further treatment to get any microcosmic cancer.

Good luck.

Most likely a small undetectable amount of cancer cells had already found themselves in the node(s) before the surgery and multipied until they were noticeable.