Uptown. Exactly these things are really small in some people but the tonsil and the lymph tissues on the base of the tongue and later l tongue boarders are part of the immune system/lymph system; and even a cancer small enough to be considered in situ is mature enough to cast off daughter cells - right into the lymph drainage passageways and down to the nodes, which are of course another step in the immune system components. They are designed to trap all kinds of detritus and cancer cells qualify.

Luckily SCC seems to stay in the regional nodes for some time, because if it did not, those drain further into the nodes in the upper body, which are close to vital organs. That is how mets that become terminal move in addition to the circulatory system.

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.