Abstract
A statistical survey of tongue cancer, collected from the annuals of pathological autopsy cases in Japan from 1977 to 1981, was done in order to examine the actual facts of tongue cancer.
On the whole, the increase from year to year, of a total number of 404 autopsy cases (male: 293, female: 110, and unknown: 1) of tongue cancer, was revealed. The average age was 65.4±9.5 in male and 56. 8±14.9 years in female. The tongue cancer was found most frequently in the age group of 60-69 years, and the lateral borders (57.7%) were the most frequently affected sites in the tongue. The lung (44.1%) was the most common site of metastasis from the tongue, followed by cervical soft tissue (27. 3%), pharynx (14.9%), liver (14.7%), larynx (12.8%), and thyroid (14.1%). Concerning the metastasis from the tongue cancer into the lymph node, the cervical lymph nodes (32.5%) were most frequently invaded. Multiple primary cancers, affecting both the tongue and other organs, were found in 65 cases (double cancer: 58 cases, triple cancer: 5 casees, quadruplex cancer: 2 cases).
