Metastasis to the lingual lymph node in carcinoma of the tongue

Lingual lymph nodes are occasionally found along the course of some lymph-vessels of the tongue. However, their existence has received little attention and metastasis of carcinoma of the tongue to them has not previously been reported. Three cases of carcinoma of the tongue with metastasis to the lingual lymph node are described and a discussion of the importance of such metastasis in the treatment of carcinoma of the tongue is presented.