Since someone has just brought up base of tongue surgery, I wanted to comment that that is an option that should be LAST. It has significant long term quality of life issues, and these are primarily treated with radiation and chemo. The base of the tongue has all the nerves that control it's movement, cutting through any of them shouldn't be done without exhausting other ideas.

Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.