I'm worried (again). My husband, at 9 months post radiation, has a sore on the back of his tongue that has been there for over a month. He saw the ENT a couple of weeks ago and he said it was a canker sore. But should a canker sore take this long to heal? I've done a search on this forum and it seems like a non-healing canker sore was the first symptom for a few people that later found it to be cancer. Has anybody else had such persistent mouth sores this long after radiation? He doesn't see the ENT again until the end of January...do we wait that long?

Thanks,
Anita

Hi Anita,
I am 5 months post radiation and am battling a sore on my tongue like your husband is. It scared the you know what out of me and after it didn't heal in a two week time frame, my otolaryncologist did a biopsy on it even though he told me flat out he wasn't concerned that it was cancer. He felt it was chronic irritation and that is what the biopsy came back with. It is now two months and it is just starting to heal, slow but sure. I also read an old post from Brian saying that there are many tongue and mouth lesions that take a few months to heal that are NOT cancer. Radiation causes lots of weird stuff that's for sure. Hope his sore proves to be exactly what mine is.

Hey Anita,
My husband had a canker sore for 4 months before the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Hopefully, this is not what your hubby has, however, do not wait too long. Our original physician waited two months and then it was another month before diagnosis after seeing an ENT. Time is of the essence in these matters!
Take care,
Debbie

Well, I just talked to the ENT office and they want to do a biopsy of the sore that won't heal. They were pretty sure it was a canker sore when they first looked at it, but now are saying that there is really no way to tell just by looking. But, of course, they can't schedule it for two weeks. Now I am trying to figure out how I will get through the next two weeks - kids coming home for Christmas, etc.

Anita