Gingival metastasis of adenocarcinoma with an unknown occult primary

Abstract

Metastatic dissemination to the oral cavity is extremely rare and constitutes about 1%–2.1% of all oral malignancies. The very first sign of the metastasis into the oral cavity indicates an occult malignancy in the distant site. It gives the evidence of widespread disease with an average survival rate of less than 7 months. Adenocarcinomas account for up to 60% of all metastatic neoplasms of unknown primary origin. Here, we report a case of metastatic adenocarcinoma of unknown primary origin in a 60-year-old male patient in the upper and lower gingiva without involvement of the underlying bone which is a very rare case reported in the literature till date.

Keywords

• Adenocarcinoma
• malignancy
• metastasis
• oral cavity