SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA OF THE TONGUE: A CASE REPORT

A 60-year-old female patient with light brown skin color and a 27-year smoking history attended a family health unit with a complaint of aphthous lesion under the tongue that did not heal for 3 months. Extraoral clinical examination was normal. On intraoral examination, an ulcerated, exophytic lesion with hardened edges was observed on the ventral surface of the tongue, with no painful symptomatology. The patient was referred to the stomatology service where laboratory tests and electrocardiogram were requested with normal findings. Facing the suspicion of malignancy, incisional biopsy was performed. Histopathologically, invasive malignant neoplasm was evident with atypical cells of pleomorphic nuclei with keratinization and infiltration of the margins compatible with moderately differentiated carcinoma. The patient was referred to the oncology hospital, where the treatment of choice was exclusively surgery. The anatomopathologic study was conclusive for well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, T1 N0 M0 staging. The patient underwent surgery 1 year ago, and up to now has no signs of recurrence.