Metastatic tumours to the jaws and oral soft tissues: a retrospective analysis of 41 Korean patients

Abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Dr Trevor Watts

Abstract

In these patients, the commonest primary site was the liver.

Main

Lim S-Y, Kim S-A et al. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2006; 35: 412–415

About 1% of oral tumours are metastases. Most are in the mandible, and in Western countries originate mainly in the breast, followed by lung, kidney, thyroid, intestine, prostate, stomach, testis and bladder. Survival is usually <1yr, with approximately 10% surviving 4 yrs. In this study, 48 cases of oral metastasis were identified from published literature over 22 yrs, with adequate data in 41 cases.

Eleven cases arose from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 9 from various lung tumours (all in men), 6 from the thyroid (all in women), 4 from female genital organs, and the remaining 11 from 9 other sites. Only 1 arose in the breast. Metastasis to the jawbone (often from lung) was more frequent than to oral soft tissues (often from liver). The authors comment that the high incidence of primary HCC in Korean males is probably the reason for the difference with Western findings.