Hepatocellular carcinoma metastatic to the mandibular ramus and condyle: Report of a case and review of the literature

According to the review article concerning metastatic tumors to the jaw bones presented by Hirshberg et al, the most common location is the molar region of the mandible, and the common primary lesions are located in the breast, adrenal gland, colorectal system, genital organs, and the thyroid gland in women, whereas it is more common in the lung, prostate, kidney, bone, and adrenal gland for men. Thirteen cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were among the 390 metastatic tumors to the oral region in their series (3.3%). We found only 34 cases of metastasis to the maxillary or mandibular bone in the English and Japanese literature from 1957 to 1995. The objective of this report is to present a case of metastatic HCC to the mandibular ascending ramus, to discuss its clinical features, and to compare it with the other reported cases.