Being genetically disposed to oral cancer, I come here asking for an opinion. This morning, I woke up with a burning sensation on the left side of my tongue. It felt like I may have bit it sometime last night and continues to feel sensitive. I looked at it this morning and it appears to look like a very small red ulcer, perhaps the size of a pinhead. I would not normally worry about this but for the color, red. Any ideas?

Hey Rick46,
What makes you genetically disposed to oral cancer? Just wondering. Do you get cancer sores? I get them alot and my hubby gets them some. For me, they begin as a little red sore and then grow some into a white ulcer. Dan's problem was we never knew anything about oral (tongue) cancer so he didn't even begin to check it out for many months. By then it was almost quarter-sized. I still get canker sores and flip out a little when I see them after Dan's experience. However, it was told to us at diagnosis that if you have any sore in your mouth longer than 2 weeks, definitely get it checked.

Hope this helps and God bless,
Debbie

Not to belittle your concern, but you really shouldn't worry about anything which has just appeared. If it is still there 14 days from now, then it's worth a look see. The mouth is constantly full of small benign abnormalities, and most of them resolve on their own without treatments of any kind in that period of time. As to being genetically predisposed to cancer, this cancer does not appear to follow genetic predispostion patterns like breat cancer for instance. 75% of the people that get it, come to it through lifestyle issues, the rest from viruses, and other small contributors to the number. The only genetic predisposition would be a gene p53 defect, and that would be hard for you to know, and would open you up to many other cancers besides oral. If it still there in two weeks and it is the size of a pin head, I would just get an oral surgeon to snip it off and send it for biopsy. No pain, 10 minutes of your time. But odds are that it is nothing to concern yourself with.

Thanks all. My mother had oral cancer of the tongue. She died at age 54. I have never been the same since.

Hi
I'm sure that you have never been the same.. but there is a saying here.. it ain't cancer till someone says it is.. we all get ulcers.. red marks.. toothache.. the hardest thing is keeping your feet on the ground for a couple of weeks to see the outcome.. I would say don't panic but I'm good at panic.. so take care watch and wait.. god willing all will be well
prayers... love and hugs
Helen

Rick,

I am sorry to hear about your mother. I can imagine after that, you have a sense of fear with the sore in your mouth. Try to just keep calm and watch it for a few days. I had cancer of the tongue and I get really scared when something feels strange on my tongue. The doctor keeps telling me to quit that because with all the radiation I had, my tongue will never feel the same. It doesn't help to hear that, though. My wife gets sores on her tongue that she calls swollen taste buds. They look very strange and worry me but they go away in a day or two. The key is the sores that don't go away for weeks.

Take care and try not to worry.

Ed

Ed,

I had that "swollen taste bud" problem as recently as this past week and some related soreness. Sometime they seem to come from some sort of temporary food irritation, but I can't always figure out the source. They're gone now, thank goodness. I still get hypersensitive about things like that, but the two-week rule is a good guide.

Cathy

Fact is that most of us don't even notice what's going on inside our mouth. Even professionals like dentists and hygenists (who are paid to look in there) miss things. Once you begin to notice then all of the stuff that Brian mentioned in his post comes into play. Once you've had a good scare then the health of your mouth takes on a whole new meaning. I freaked out once at a salivary gland - I thought for sure it a new tumor - turned out to be a normal part of the anatomy. I'll bet the head & neck guy had a good laugh at that one. Then the stains from fillings and other normal anomolies.

I can certainly understand your fear in light of your mother but I have not heard or read anywhere that oral cancer is genetic. The vast majority of the time (80%) it is environmentally caused by tobacco and/or alcohol. Considering the high incidence of cancer in general - 1 in 2 males and 1 in 3 females. I guess just having a bag of bones makes us all genetically disposed to cancer.

Since early detection is key to better odds of survival you are wise to seek an accurate diagnosis.

I am sure the otolaryngologist used me for some conference room laughter, too. I begged him to see me the day after my 4 month exam because of what I perceived to be a hard spot in my neck. It turned out to be my carotid artery and it was pumping like mad while I rushed to his office at 7:30 am and got stuck in a wreck 2 minutes from the office with the highway completely shut down 2 cars ahead of me.

Ed