If your whole tongue surface was white, I put my vote in for a fungal infection, most likely Candida albicans. There's a web page on the main OCF site that talks all about it. If your oral health got bad enough, that would also account for the node. After all their job is to catch all the detritus of infections and the like. You can't be too cautious being a smoker though, in the end tobacco causes lots of bad things, and knowing for sure from a pathologist will put your mind to rest and on a path to fixing whatever it is.

Oral cancer does not present like this, so I hope that comment gives you a little comfort. Hope you find the strength and desire to stop the tobacco. In the long run it will not bring you good things.


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.