Clinical study of tumors metastasizing to the oral cavity

Eight tumors metastasizing to the oral cavity were clinically investigated. The frequency of metastatic oral tumors was 2.6% among all oral malignant tumors (307 cases) treated at our department from 1977 to 1998. Of the 8 patients, 2 were male and 6 were female. At presentation 3 patients had a medical history of treatment for cancer arising in other organs. Four patients had metastasis to the mandible, 3 had gingival metastasis, and 1 had metastasis to the tip of the tongue. Common symptoms of bone metastasis were swelling of the gingiva and alveolar mucosa and pain of the mandible. Gingival and lingual metastasis was associated with a nodular formation resembling epulis. Panoramic radiographs showed infiltrative bony destruction with ill-defined margins or a moth-eaten appearance in 4 cases of mandibular metastasis, and irregular destruction of the alveolar process was observed in 3 cases of gingival metastasis. Three cases were clinically diagnosed as oral cancer, 3 as metastatic tumor, 1 as epulis, and 1 as mandibular osteomyelitis or trigeminal neuralgia. The pathological diagnosis of biopsy specimens or removed tissues was adenocarcinoma in 3 cases, renal cell carcinoma in 1, hepatocellular carcinoma in 1, acinic cell carcinoma in 1, adeno-squamous cell carcinoma in 1, and adenocarcinoma or small cell carcinoma in 1. On the basis of pathological findings and systemic examinations, the primary site was the stomach in 3 cases, the lung in 2, the kidney in 2, and the liver in 1. Surgical removal was performed in 3 cases with gingival or lingual nodular formation, radiotherapy in 3 with mandibular metastasis, and chemotherapy in 1 with mandibular metastasis. One case was not treated after biopsy because the patient and his family refused. The outcome of the patients was very poor, with a mean survival time of 6 months. When treating metastatic oral tumors, the patient's quality of the life must be adequately considered.