Secondary Tongue Cancer in Patients with Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease(GVHD) after Bone Marrow Transplantation: Report of Two Cases / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

We report two patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) who developed cancers in the mobile tongue. The first patient, a 15-year old female who had undergone bone marrow transplantation for Fanconi's anemia five years ago, developed chronic GVHD on the oral cavity 1.5 years after the transplantation and have suffered from it ever since. Recently, she developed squamous cell carcinoma in the tongue. The second patient, a 50-year old male who had received the bone marrow transplantation due to severe aplastic anemia, developed chronic GVHD on the oral cavity 5 months later and have suffered from it thereafter. He developed squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue 15 years later after BMT. These cases imply that cancers including tongue neoplasms may develop in patients with GVHD after bone marrow transplantation. A thorough examination of head & neck and close follow-up are recommended to patients treated with bone marrow transplantation, particularly to those with GVHD.