my wife 64 is suffering from posterior part of tongue cancer.She was treated with 70greys of radio-therapy and four sittings of cisplatin as chemotherapy.Now nearly 40 days have passed after therapy, she has slurred speech and can swallow only liquids in limited amount abd feels sour in her mouth when any protien is added, her tongue is partially white.The doctor has asked PET scan of neck , the other doctor asked MRI with contrast. I amm confused what to do. Can you give your busy time to advise me.She was treated through true beam rapid arc procedure.
Umesh

Umesh,

It looks like your wife has recieved a fairly standard course of treatment. The after effects are also to be expected, it can take up to a year for us to fully recover from the effects of radiation and chemo. Taste returns but slowly, the same with swollowing and pain reduction.

40 days seems to be a bit early for a scan as the area is still healing. It is not recomended to get a PET scan until at least 8 weeks after completion of treatment as the PET is very sensative and will show healing tissue as a false positive for cancer.

Some here don't like PET scans at all and prefer the MRI with contrast. Personaly I prefer the PET as it is very sensative but I go in knowing it can give a false positive and show healing as cancer some times. MRI with contrast is a good approach also and I don't think you can go wrong with either type.

Hi there... I agree it is early for a scan and may cause unnecessary stress as they often light up due to healing... the usual is 3 mos post treatment. The white stuff on her tongue... try getting her a waterpik... they have one that has a blue end that looks like a spoon... on the lowest setting using lukewarm water... tell her to use it and scrape at the tongue gently. It may very well be a build up of guck sitting on her tongue (hence the sour taste I'm assuming this is on top of her tongue not under it since it likely involves taste buds)- if her tongue is sore as well (where the white is) then it may be thrush. Cutting down on sugar in take and possibly a prescription of nystatin will help. best of luck... hopefully it's nothing too serious. A lot of us have oral issues post treatment. Chances are because of your wife's age, the chemo, etc... her immune system is compromised and she will heal slowly. usually the first two weeks post treatment are the worst, she should be beginning to get a little better day by day. But a little over a month out it's not surprising she's having these issues. try not to worry. take care.

Sometimes PET scans are done between 6-8 weeks, and say the PET will be 90 percent accurate by then, and feel it's best to do surgery, if needed, during that time.