Geographical tongue induced by axitinib

A metastatic kidney cancer patient in his 50s presented with white, painless, patterned lesions on the dorsum of the tongue (figures 1 and 2). These well-demarcated lesions appeared within a few weeks of starting axitinib, an oral antiangiogenic agent. The lesions were asymptomatic, did not affect oral intake in any way and persisted for more than 18 months. This self-limiting condition is known as ‘geographical tongue’, or ‘benign migratory glossitis’. The pathophysiology of these lesions …