Floor of the Mouth Cancer

Tests and procedures used to diagnose floor of the mouth cancer may include:

• Examining your mouth and neck. In a physical exam, a health care professional looks at your mouth and neck. The health professional checks for any lumps in the mouth and on the neck. Your neck also is checked for swollen lymph nodes. When floor of the mouth cancer spreads, it often goes to the lymph nodes first.
• Removing a tissue sample for testing. Called a biopsy, this test involves taking a sample of cells from the mouth. There are different types of biopsy procedures. A sample may be collected by cutting out a piece of the suspicious tissue or the entire area. Another type of biopsy uses a thin needle that’s inserted directly into the suspicious area to collect a sample of cells. The samples are sent to a lab to be tested. In the lab, tests can show whether the cells are cancerous.
• Imaging tests. Imaging tests capture pictures of the inside of the body. The pictures can show the size and location of a tumor. Imaging tests used for floor of the mouth cancer may include X-rays and scans such as CT, MRI and positron emission tomography, also called PET.