Tongue cancer after bone marrow transplantation

A case of tongue cancer developing in a 33-year-old man 7 years and 7 months after allogenic bone mallow transplantation (BMT) for acute myeloid leukemia is presented. The patient received chemotherapy and total body irradiation of a total dose of 12 Gy in a conditioning regimen. He was affected with chronic graft-versus-host disease after BMT, but had not complained of symptom in the oral cavity. Oral examination showed an ulcerative mass with induration at the right lateral border of the tongue. The mass was diagnosed as a squamous cell carcinoma by biopsy. The tumour was surgically removed. There was no evidence of recurrence or metastasis 9 months after surgery. The necessity of long-term follow-up of the oral cavity in recipients undergoing BMT is emphasized.