What are the Survival Rates of Tongue Cancer?

What is Tongue Cancer?

Tongue cancer is a type of mouth cancer, which develops in the cells of the tongue. Tongue cancer treatment has different stages and grades. The stage indicates how far cancer escalates, i.e., first stage, second stage, etc, while the grade implies how aggressive the cancer is, i.e., low, moderate, and high.

It can be further categorized into two types: 

• Oral Tongue Cancer – It is caused when the front side of your tongue is affected by cancer.
• Oropharyngeal Cancer – It occurs when the base of your tongue, which is attached to your mouth, is affected by cancer. 

What is the Survival Rate?

The survival rate is the ability of a person to fight against a particular disease after they are diagnosed with it. It does not guarantee the period of time a person can live but will enlighten you with the particulars regarding your treatment. Many Indian cancer research centres are trying to contribute their level best to treat oral cancer.

Survival Rates Based on Stages and Gender:-

• Men Who Were Diagnosed With Stage One and Two Cancer – 90% of them were able to survive cancer for one year or more, and 80% of them were able to tackle it for three years or more.

• Women Diagnosed With Stage One and Two Cancer – 95% of them were able to survive cancer for one year or more, whereas 80% of them could survive for three years or more.

• Men Who Were Diagnosed With Stage 3 and 4 Cancer – 70% of them survived it for a year or more after tongue cancer treatment, and about 50% of the patients could survive it for three years or more.
• Women Who Were Diagnosed With Stage 3 and 4 Cancer – 65% of the patients were able to encounter it for one year or more, and 50% of them could hold on till three years or more.

Tongue Cancer in India

In India, about 60% of oral cancer cases have a five-year survival rate, leading to improvement in the treatment. Node positivity is a factor that mainly affects the survival rate and recurrence. 

Node positivity means the spread of cancer to lymph nodes. It was observed that node-negative patients had a 79% 5-year survival rate while the node-positive ones had 59%. 

Despite tongue cancer treatment at all stages, the overall survival rate after all possible treatment is 50%. Even after treatment, there are chances for recurrence, which decreases the survival rate of the patients. About 35% of patients are likely to be affected by it again after treatment.

Status of Oral Cancer in India

Also Read:- How Many Years of Smoking Causes Mouth Cancer?

The Regional Cancer Centers (RCCs) and one of the Indian cancer research centres, the National Cancer Registry Programme, established by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) provide nationwide statistics of Indian cancer patients.

Getting regular health checkups is crucial as early detection of any disease will tremendously help with the treatment and helps increase the chances of survival.