title: Aspiration and Brushing Cytology in tumors and tumor-like conditions of the tongue: A Study of 27 Cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lesions of the tongue have a broad differential diagnosis ranging from benign idiopathic processes to infections, cancers, and infiltrative disorders. An important thing to remember is that most tongue lesions will resolve spontaneously or with simple therapy within a week, if not, they should be biopsied or evaluated further for a definitive diagnosis of a potentially serious disorder. Some tongue lesions may be clues to other underlying illnesses which require further evaluation Tongue lesions are traditionally evaluated by surgical biopsy. Most of them, however, are easily accessible by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) or brushing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen males and twelve females aged from 15 to 72 were examined in our institution over a period of 15 years and 27 lesions, were evaluated by fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) or brushing cytology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The lesions were located at the mobile aspect of the tongue.10 malignant tumors were diagnosed: 9 cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and 1 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In addition, 13 benign tumors (7 cases of papillomas / fibromas, 3 cases of hemangiomas, 2 cases lymphangiomas, and 1 case of lipoma), and 4 nonneoplastic benign conditions (3 traumatic ulcers and 1 hematoma) were found. There were no false-positive diagnoses. There were no clinical complications resulting from FNA or brushing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cytologic examination is rapid, safe, accurate, inexpensive, and patient-friendly for establishing preoperative diagnosis in tumors and tumor-like conditions of the tongue, and we recommend this method as the first diagnostic step in the evaluation of these lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of cytopathology, Regional Hospital of Chania, Crete, Greece. dtamiolakis@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tamiolakis
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mygdakos
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsamis
authors.forename: Sylva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikolaidou
authors.forename: Vasilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Thomaidis
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Georghiou
authors.forename: Akrivi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costopoulou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases; D014059:Tongue; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055815:Young Adult