In August I had surgery for parotid gland scc tumor removal along with one positive scc lymp node removed. 60 Gy of radiation 6 weeks and no chemo. This week I have found a node like sore spot about the size of a pea on the back area of top of tongue. Not pain but I know its there. Also a little horse in talking too. Woried that I might have another cancer come up in another place since I went thru all that mask and mouth problems from the rad.
I had my tonsils out when I was 6 so none there. The Squamous came from a skin cancer that was positive SCC. Anyone have a spot on the top of the tongue almost in the center and back by the taste buds. Also is this what is called base of the tongue cancer area or is that in another spot on the tongue.
Thanks for any information to ease my old mine. I am 82 years young.

Congratulations youngster on completing your treatment! The best thing I can say is to see your doctor, preferably ENT. If anything is suspicious, they can take a biopsy, if possible, send you for further testing or just give you piece of mind it is nothing, and hopefully it's not. Base of tongue is deeper back, not in the center, near the tonsils.

Basil, welcome to OCF! Glad you found this site. Any sore you have in your mouth that is there for 2 weeks or more and doesnt heal should be checked by a professional. Since you are a survivor, I would suggest getting checked by your ENT. I hope its nothing serious but only with a biopsy will the doc be certain what the spot is.

Base of tongue is not where you described. Base of tongue is not visible. The tongue is really much larger than what you see when you look in a mirror. The base of tongue is well beneath the surface, it is where your tongue first begins. Take a look at the graph on the following link and the base of tongue would be on the bottom of the tongue, down towards the throat.
NCI base of tongue diagram

HI there... as described base of tongue is actually down your throat. You are describing oral tongue. And usually oral tongue tumors tend to originate at the side or under the tongue in the mouth. Now doesn't mean it's not a tumor (thought it could be an infected area or scar tissue from radiation). Best to have it checked out to be on the safe side. Sometimes the tumors aren't even visible as they are inside the tongue. Hope it's nothing... definitely have it looked at. hugs and welcome.

Thank you all for the information. I made an appointment to see my doctor for Wednesday. I am just over jumpy with anything not normal in head now after the treatments. Since my first bought was with the node and Parotid gland, I had not read anything about the tongue. And since my original cancer was Squamous I see most cancer in the tongue area seems to be also SCC. I appreciate the help that forum give us. I will advise when I get some more info from the Doctor.
Thanks again.

Basil - welcome and congrats for being so young! We're sorry you're here but welcome you into the family. Please let us know what the doc says.

Saw the doctor today and he was not sure what the spot was caused by. He gave me a round of antibiotics to take for a week to see if it clears up. If not, he will set up a PET scan to take a look. Hope the meds works!
Thank you.

What kind of doc? Its unusual to do a PET before a biopsy. How about trying an ENT who is experienced with oral cancer patients? If thats who you went to, try another one. In my opinion a PET seems like a bit of overkill when a simple biopsy would do the trick. Im also hoping it turns out to be nothing and antibiotics take care of it so you dont have to go thru anything else.

PS.....I went back and reread all your posts to figure out why your doc would want to do a PET. Im sorry but without a signature and so many new members to keep track of, it makes it alot harder and more time consuming to give info. Well now I see why they thought a PET was necessary, you already had cancer and this would be a recurrence if its cancerous. I still would suggest getting a biopsy first as PET scans can give false positives and are not as accurate as a biopsy.

Please add a signature, it helps us to help you.

Remember that PET scans are NOT specific for finding cancer. Also as a rule PET scans are full body scans which seems overkill in your situation. You are exposing our whole body to radiation that may not be necessary. I agree with the others that finding someone who is really geared towards oral cancers would be an alternative. Second opinions should not offend the first doctor, or indicate a total lack of confidence in them, just that two heads are better than one. A fresh perspective, a different set of clinical experiences, background or training� they can really make a difference.