Hello all. My name is Steve and while I am not new to OC I am new to the group. After 4 "small" surgeries and finally a partial glossectomy with arm flap reconstruction last April I had hoped to be done with OC but its back again and seems to be more aggressive this time. I am waiting for a new plan from the tumor board. Looking forward to interacting with fellow survivors.

Welcome. Sorry you are still dealing with this. If you came to this cancer without a known etiology, like tobacco etc., and you have had several recurring small cancers treated only with surgery, what you are describing is unfortunately pretty common. While this tends to happen more in women for some unknown reason, these unknown cause tongue cancers probably come from a genetic predisposition or genetic frailty, and they occur repeatedly. Surgery at the onset is chosen because it is conservative and sometimes holds it off for a year or two, but recurring lesions are really common. Many ultimately have radiation treatments to get full and permanent control.

Please post again about where you are being treated, and now you have gone through a tumor board what is the plan for the next course of action. In general, there is a point where any further surgeries are going to have an impact on your speech, and ability to eat properly, and a different approach needs to be employed. You do not want to wait to up the treatment plan till it has metastasized far from its current location. I suspect that when you say it’s more aggressive, that means you have scans that show it perhaps outside of the tongue proper. Let us know what they have planned for you. Wishing you the best.