Prognosis | Tongue cancer

Prognosis

The prognosis of people with tongue cancer depends on several factors. It is strongly influenced by the stage at which the tongue cancer is discovered and treated. The stage depends on the size and presence of tumor metastases in other organs or the lymph nodes.

If the tongue cancer is detected at an early stage and treated quickly, the prognosis is usually very good. However, if the ulcer has had enough time to form daughter tumors, the prognosis is significantly worse. If tumor metastases occur in lymph nodes, the prognosis is better if only a few lymph nodes are affected.If additional daughter tumors can be found in other organs such as the lungs, liver or bones, life expectancy is usually only short.

Another important factor for the prognosis is the localization of the tumor. Tongue cancer that occurs at the base of the tongue – i.e. far back in the mouth, near the throat – usually has a worse prognosis than tumors on the rest of the tongue. The reason for this is that it causes discomfort later on and is not as easily visible as tumors in other places.

Other factors, such as the quality and extent of the surgery, as well as the recurrence of the tumor after it has already disappeared due to the therapy, also influence the prognosis. Life expectancy in people with tongue cancer is strongly dependent on factors such as the stage of the tumor, the therapy and the sex of the patient. It should be noted that people often survive for different lengths of time despite almost identical tongue cancer and very similar physical conditions.

Therefore, it is not possible to predict in individual cases how long a patient will live. The following data are only average values. They do not reflect the fact that some patients survive significantly longer, while others survive significantly shorter.

If one calculates the average life expectancy of all previous patients with tongue cancer, without considering whether and how they were treated or what stage they had reached, then the life expectancy after diagnosis is approximately 9 years. Patients who have undergone optimal treatment survive on average about 10 years – however, no differentiation is made here as to which stage the tongue cancer was in. Patients who did not receive surgery because they could not physically survive it, rejected it or because the tumor was too advanced, survived for an average of 2 years.

In addition to all these values, it should be mentioned that, independent of all factors, approx. 38 – 50% of all patients suffering from tongue cancer are still alive 10 years after diagnosis. Women usually survive longer than men. How good or bad the quality of life is in the years following the diagnosis of “tongue cancer” is not apparent from these figures and can vary greatly from person to person.