Choose the latest innovations in tongue cancer treatment.
Expertise finds answers.
You can find the answers you have been looking for with Mayo Clinic’s team of tongue cancer experts, who will work together to understand your goals and meet your needs as a whole person.
Experience matters.
At Mayo Clinic, you will have access to comprehensive head and neck cancer expertise, and these experts from across disciplines come together for one specific goal—to focus on you. Clinic Head and Neck Cancer Center treats all types of head and neck and skull base cancers, including tongue cancer.
A plan just for you.
Your expert team will customize your treatment plan, working in close collaborations that may include ENT specialists—including surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, speech therapists and other professionals. Test results are made available quickly, and your appointments are coordinated so you can get answers in a matter of days.
What is tongue cancer?
Increasingly, cancers at the base of the tongue are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), which has a profound effect on the prognosis and treatment of the cancer. Where your tongue cancer occurs also affects your treatment. Tongue cancer can occur:
- In the mouth, where it may be more likely to be seen and felt (oral tongue cancer). This type of tongue cancer tends to be diagnosed when the cancer is small and more easily removed through surgery.
- In the throat, at the base of the tongue, where tongue cancer may develop with few signs and symptoms (hypopharyngeal tongue cancer).
Innovation at work.
Mayo Clinic experts and surgeons offer the latest advances and innovations in tongue cancer, including transoral, open or reconstructive surgery. Additionally, your team may also recommend chemotherapy, advanced radiation techniques including proton therapy, or a clinical trial, depending on the stage of your diagnosis.
A good place to be.
Mayo Clinic is top-ranked in more specialties than any other hospital, according to U.S. News & World Report. Mayo Clinic's otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) and cancer practices are also ranked among the best in the country.
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Jacksonville, FL:
904-953-0853
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480-301-8484
Rochester, MN:
507-538-3270
(SINGING) Amazing grace--All the things that we think of give us personality and individuality in life really reside in the head and neck. There have actually been studies done looking at patients who get treated at centers who do a high volume of head and neck cases. Patients who go to physicians who do this as a dedicated specialty tend to do better. We specialize in rare cancers so that they're common for us. You come and see me, but instantly, you see a whole team of people. Our multidisciplinary group, our collaboration, I would say, sets us apart from everybody else--and not to mention the fact that we just have all of the newest tools to do this. The surgical robot allows you to get into tight spaces with what's called minimally invasive surgery. We have a very state of the art proton unit able to deliver a very tight radiation field and avoid normal structures. We're probably one of the most aggressive centers in looking at dose de-escalation in terms of radiation for patients with the HPV-related oral pharynx cancers. 90% of the people with papillomavirus-induced tumors are cured by treatment. They can do very well with minimally invasive surgery and a decreased dose of targeted radiotherapy, and maybe targeted chemotherapy, and still have a high cure rate.