Floor of the Mouth Cancer

Diagnosis

Mayo Clinic doctors use highly advanced diagnostic services to identify floor of the mouth cancer. The process starts with a physical exam and a discussion of your symptoms and medical history.

Your doctor may take a small sample of tissue (biopsy) to send to the lab for analysis. X-rays help locate abnormalities in the floor of your mouth and jaws. Your doctor may order other imaging tests, such as those below, to determine if the cancer has spread. In tests that involve radiation, Mayo Clinic specialists carefully monitor doses to avoid the risk of radiation overexposure.

• Computerized tomography (CT). CT scans generate 2-D images of the head and neck that may reveal whether cancer has invaded other tissues or organs.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI uses magnetic field and radio waves to identify small abnormalities in the head and neck in 3-D views and to determine if cancer has spread to other organs.
• Positron emission tomography (PET) scans. PET scans use a small amount of radioactive materials to identify cancer and to determine if it has spread to lymph nodes or other organs in the body such as the lungs, liver or bones.

Read more about CT scan, MRI and PET scan.