Singer Maxime Le Forestier reveals he was treated for tongue cancer. This cancer is the most common oral cancer and is often diagnosed between the ages of 55 and 65. Reminder of symptoms and risk factors.
[Mise à jour le 12 décembre 2022 à 14h53] In an interview given to The Obs on December 10, 2022, the singer 73-year-old Maxime Le Forestier reveals he was treated for tongue cancer. Hospitalized after becoming unwell on stage in December 2021, the doctors perform a series of examinations on him “and, by dint of investigations, I was discovered to have little crap gathered at the base of the tongue. The ENT specialist at the Institut Curie who told me the news did not (nor) utter the word ‘cancer’. I understood this when he prescribed me a series of thirty-five radiotherapy sessions” he says before adding “I did not name the disease until the moment when I was told that I was cured”. About 15,000 lip-mouth-pharynx cancers discovered each year in France including 10,000 in humans.
Tongue cancer is one of the cancers of the oral cavity. “90-95% of tongue cancers are squamous cell carcinomas which develop from the epithelium, the lining tissueinforms Dr. Philippe Gorphe, ENT surgeon at the Gustave Roussy Institute. This cancer first develops locally and then spreads very quickly to the lymph nodes in the neck. IIt remains localized for a long time in the head and neck with a healing objective. The disease does not generalize until late.. Tongue cancer can be divided into two types: cancers of the mobile part and those of the back part (fixed base of the tongue).
Cancers of the oral cavity affect 6,000 people per year in France, including a third of cancers of the tongue. “The average age of cancers of the oral cavity is 62 yearssays the ENT surgeon.The peak age at diagnosis is between 55 and 65 years” he specifies. This disease, which is male in three quarters of cases, occurs in one third of cases in people over 70 years of age.
The first sufficiently convincing symptoms generally only appear at an already advanced stage of the disease. At first, the proliferation of abnormal cells in the tongue is only manifested by a slight feeling of discomfort when chewing or movements of the mobile part of the organ. Gradually, the clinical signs evolve. “The first symptom is spontaneous pain and pain when swallowing. The person may also have difficulty articulatingdescribes the ENT surgeon. There is often a weight loss because the person eats less“. Other common signs:
- bleeding and visible neck glands. “Swollen lymph nodes are a common symptom“Informs Dr. Philippe Gorphe.
- “The tongue pain may radiate to the ear because it borrows the nerve of the sensitivity of the oral cavity“he adds.
In just under a third of cases, people have never smoked or drunk.
the tobacco and alcohol are the first risk factors of developing oral cancer. When consumed together, the effects of tobacco and alcohol do not add up but multiply. “In just under a third of cases, people have never smoked or drunknevertheless informs Dr. Philippe Gorphe. There is a particular age group for tongue cancer: patients under 40 who are non-smokers. Several theories have been put forward to explain this particular incidence, including sporadic potentially carcinogenic mutations and predisposing factors, for example in people with impaired cell self-cleaning“. L’human papillomavirus (HPV virus) infection also at the origin of cancers of the cervix) transmitted in particular by contact with the skin or with the mucous membranes – also promotes the appearance of certain cancers of the oropharynx including the tonsils and the base of the tongue).
“In two-thirds of cases, tongue cancer is diagnosed at an advanced overall stage, which has an impact on the importance of treatment and a major impact on prognosis, the stage of the disease is a direct reflection of the chances of survival“explains Dr. Philippe Gorphe.
Diagnosis of tongue cancer is made with a clinical examination and biopsy, usually performed endoscopically. “Since this cancer is very often associated with tobacco or tobacco and alcohol poisoning, there is a risk of a tumor in the other mucous membranes: pharynx, larynx, esophagus“explains Dr. Philippe Gorphe.
The treatment is generally surgical and radiotherapeutic.
“As with other oral cancers, the treatment is generally surgical and radiotherapeutic. Surgery of the tumor and lymph node areas and post-operative radiotherapy are performedinforms the ENT surgeon. If there is no apparent lymph node pathology clinically and radiologically, only one or two nodes are removed to analyze them and see if the disease has not started in the nodes: this is the sentinel lymph node technique“.
“If no seriousness factor was found during the biopsy, there may not be radiotherapy after surgery. If seriousness factors have been found, chemotherapy can be associated with radiotherapy”, specifies this specialist. Depending on the size of the tumor, tongue reconstruction may be necessary after surgery.
The chances of survival, assessed at 5 years, vary greatly depending on the site and the stage of development of the tumour. Tumors of the mobile part detected early have a fairly high survival rate, but this drops if the detection is late.
Thanks to Dr Philippe Gorphe, ENT surgeon at the Gustave Roussy Institute.