Large oral soft tissue metastasis from anaplastic carcinoma of the lung mimicking a primitive malignancy: case report and brief review of the literature

Minerva Stomatol. 2008 Sep;57(9):447-51.
[Article in English, Italian]

Abstract

Metastatic tumours to the oral region are rare, and those reported in the buccal soft tissues are even less frequent. We describe a case of anaplastic carcinoma of the lung in a 60-year-old man, presenting a huge oral metastasis as the first sign of his primitive lung malignancy. Clinically, the oral lesion mimicked a high-grade primitive carcinoma of the oral cavity. The biopsy established the gingival metastasis from lung cancer which was confirmed by a fine-needle aspiration cytology examination. We report an uncommon case of metastatic lung carcinoma to the gingiva emphasizing the differential diagnosis between primary and metastatic tumours; a short discussion on the pathways of metastatization to oral cavity soft tissues, as well as brief review of the literature are also presented.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Carcinoma / pathology
  • Carcinoma / prevention & control*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mouth Neoplasms / pathology
  • Mouth Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / pathology
  • Soft Tissue Neoplasms / secondary*