Hi Dave,

I too had SCC of the tongue. It had also moved to two lymph nodes. I wanted surgery ASAP but my ENT said no because of your valid concerns. They cannot say for sure how deep the tumor is. I had a PEG tube inserted, (you will need this), and had the chemo and radiation. 35 RAD treatments and two rounds with 5FU plus two or three other chemos over a six week period. I am now cancer free. It is a tough go, but I needed no tongue reconstruction. I strngly sugest the chemo/RAD route first and some disection after to get the lab pathology results. There is also risk of spreading the cance rduring surgery from what I have heard.

Good luck,

Steve

SCC, base of tongue, 2 lymph nodes, stage 3/4. 35 X's IMRT radiation, chemo: Cisplatin x 2, 5FU x2, & Taxol x2. Hooray, after 3 years I'm in still in remission.