A small lump in the tongue that can only be felt with the hand may be a benign tumor in the body of the tongue, or it may be a sign of the early stages of cancer. 1. Benign tumor. Small bumps in the tongue may be papilloma, soft and tibial, the surface is nodular, papillary or warty, manifested as painless round nodules, generally slow-growing and clear boundaries with the surrounding, can be moved. 2. Early stage of cancer. When tongue cancer is in the early stage, it is not easy to be found, there are hard lumps in the tongue body when touching it with hands, it is adhered to the surrounding tissues and grows rapidly, which will cause pain in the tongue body in the late stage and restrict the tongue movement. When there is a lump inside the tongue, it is recommended to go to the hospital for CT examination as soon as possible to diagnose its nature and deal with it as early as possible.