Carcinoma of the pancreas metastatic to the mandible

Report of a case and a review of the Japanese literature

Abstract

A case of metastatic adenocarcinoma of the mandible from the pancreas was reported and 70 cases of metastatic tumors in the mouth and jaws as for reported in the Japanese lietrature were analysed.
The mean age of the patients was 51 years with a range of 1 to 76 years. The lung was the site of primary organ with the highest incidence, and it was followed in order of frequency by the uterus, kidney and stomach. Bone metastasis occurred more often in the mandible than in the maxilla, and the site of predilection was the molar region of the mandible. The most common symptoms were swelling, pain, bleeding, loosening of teeth and paresthesia. Paresthesia was noted in 36.7% of the patients with mandibular metastasis. In 23.4% of the cases, the oral metastasis was found prior to the recognition of primary lesions. Histologically, adenocarcinoma was a most frequently encountered tumor. The metastatic lesions were treated by surgery, chemotherapy or irradiation in 52 cases while no treatment was carried out in 12 cases. The prognosis of these metastatic tumors was very poor because the treatment was done for palliation in most cases.