My husband has at least two massive cancer scars a year now. He had stage 4 SCC on his right Tonsil, back in 2005 and not a day goes by that he doesn't worry about cancer. A friend he met during his MRND at Stanford was having surgery for a "recurrence" 17 years after his original cancer. I can't recall, but I think he was told the cancer (not an actual recurrence) was brought on from the original radiation treatment.

So, as Michael is mid17 years post tx, he is worried about the same.

For 3 months he's had pain in his LEFT mouth/jaw/cheek/tongue and visits to the dentist aren't really helping. He is having intermittent swollen nodes on the same side. His ENT wasn't worried, and the endodontist said she didn't think a root canal was indicated. Her PanoX ray showed a "radio luminosity" worrisome for cancer in the root of # 14.

Naturally, he is having severe anticipatory anxiety while we're trying to source and secure an appointment for a specialist.

Any advice is appreciated. He claims this forum saved his life, so I thought I'd give it a try. Thank you.

No one can say with any real authority why recurrences happen. Radiation induced possible but unlikely. If we all had to look forward to getting a second cancer down the road from our cancer radiation treatments no one would get them.

Radiolucent areas can be lots of things, not necessarily cancer. You don’t describe this well enough but it sounds like it’s in a root. Cancer doesn’t happen in teeth. If it’s around the root I’d be more concerned that osteoradionecrosis is an issue. That is a big deal. Not cancer but really a huge problem. This needs to be pursued with someone outside of a dentist that is familiar with looking at ORN. The dark area will increase in size over time if this is it. If it’s down by the root tip I’d be thinking more of an apical abscess. If it extends down the side of a root from the crown root junction, it’s more likely common periodontal disease. Either way further exploration is in order to determine what this is. Good luck, hoping this is one of the simple choices.

The ENT may not be concerned but you are - so you must act on it. Get an appointment with the cancer Center and get a definitive answer. Until that time, it will be difficult to ‘put it out of your mind’.

Be vigilant. Take action. And don’t buy tomorrow’s worries until you Have to!