title: Hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis to the gingival soft tissues: A case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Metastases to the gingival soft tissues are rare in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To the best of our knowledge, only 13 cases have been reported in English literature to date. The present study described the case of a 43-year-old Chinese man who was admitted to Tangdu Hospital (Xi'an, China) due to the presence of a gingival tumor that was initially diagnosed as granulation tissue by a dental surgeon. Examination of the patient's medical history revealed that a solid mass, measuring 1.5 cm in diameter, was identified in the right lobe of the liver 2 years prior to presentation at the current hospital; however, no biopsy was performed. Thus, the tumor was resected and histological examination resulted in an initial diagnosis of atypical squamous cell carcinoma. However, the histopathological characteristics, immunohistochemical features and serum α-fetoprotein expression levels supported a diagnosis of metastatic HCC. In conclusion, the present case study highlights the difficulties in diagnosing metastatic HCC without a history of primary HCC, and the importance of excluding a diagnosis of metastatic tumor when a lesion is identified in the gingival. Furthermore, it was determined that a final diagnosis of gingival metastasis of HCC predominantly depends on pathological characteristics and immunohistochemical features.
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wen-Dong
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Rong
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiu-Juan
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shao-Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fu-Qin
authors.initials: FQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China ; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The Helmholtz Sino-German Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: gingival; hepatocellular carcinoma; immunohistochemistry; metastasis