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van der Waal RIF, Butler J et al. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2003; 41: 3–6

About 1% of oral cancers are metastases from elsewhere in the body. From January 1970 to January 2001, 1537 patients at a university clinic in Amsterdam were diagnosed with oral tumours, and 24 of these were identified as metastases.

The commonest primary was adenocarcinoma of the female breast (6 cases), and in one of these, the oral metastasis was found first, in the gingiva. In 4 out of 5 cases of primary lung tumours, the oral metastasis was found first, in the mandible or maxilla. In 3 cases, the primary was not identified. In all other cases, the primary was identified first, in the kidney (4), the prostate (3), cerebellum, colon or oesophagus.

Survival ranged from 1 to 60 months (median 6). Breast and lung are common sites for primary tumours in the Netherlands, but the kidney is not. Radiotherapy is the usual treatment for jaw bone metastases, and relieves pain in most cases. Palliative surgery may be undertaken for oral soft tissue metastases.