Have Recurring Red Spot On Tongue. Could This Be Cancer?

Posted on Mon, 10 Dec 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 Answered on

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I have a red spot on my tongue that comes and goes. When it is there it is numb. It isnt a canker sore, nor is it a swollen taste bud as I have had before, it is red patch and sore and numb feeling.

Could this be Cancer of the tongue?

THank you for your help.

Answered by Dr. Ganesh Sanap (4 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

Red spot which comes and goes is very less likely a cancer, because cancer will grow slowly and never regress automatically. So you need not worry about cancer.

It possibly could be an ulcerative patch or reaction to allergens (peanuts/environmental) or it may be side effect of the inhaler you are using.

There is usually a strong inducing factor like smoking or chewing tobacco, or family history for oral cancer, though it is not a pre-requisite. If you have any one of these predisposing factors, then it will be better to get evaluated from an ENT specialist.

You have a feature to upload images of your lesion by yourself, at the right side of the query page. Please utilize that, so that I can answer your query in a much better way.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan