Tongue Cancer

Tongue cancer occurs when cells on your tongue start to grow and divide uncontrollably. Your tongue starts at your hyoid bone (located where your chin meets your neck) and ends at the floor of your mouth.

When cancer affects the front part of your tongue (the part you can see), healthcare providers call it oral cancer or oral tongue cancer. If you develop cancer on the back portion of your tongue (the part you can’t see), providers call it oropharyngeal cancer or base of tongue cancer.

Types of tongue cancer

Several types of cancer can affect your tongue, but the most common is squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Squamous cell carcinoma starts in the squamous cells in the outer layer of your skin. Typically, SCC affects the parts of your body most often exposed to the sun. But it can also affect mucous membranes like the inside of your mouth.

How common is tongue cancer?

Tongue cancer is rare overall, making up less than 1% of new diagnoses in the United States. But it’s one of the most common types of head and neck cancers.

Tongue cancer is twice as common in people assigned male at birth (AMAB). It’s also more common in people age 40 and over.