A case of porta hepatis lymph node and peritoneal metastases of mandibular gingiva squamous cell carcinoma post treatment

Abstract

In head and neck malignancies, distant metastases contribute considerably to patient prognoses. We encountered a patient with mandibular gingival cancer that resulted in porta hepatis lymph node and peritoneal metastases. The patient was a 69-year-old man who was treated with superselective intra-arterial injection chemoradiation for right-side mandibular gingival squamous cell carcinoma （T4aN3M0）. We confirmed the presence of swollen lymph nodes of the porta hepatis by fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computerized tomography one month after treatment. Then, we confirmed the presence of peritoneal metastasis, which was accompanied by abdominal ascites. The patient was admitted to our hospital but his physical condition worsened quickly and he died of multisystem organ failure. The patient was diagnosed through a pathological autopsy test, which revealed that each of the porta hepatis enlarged lymph nodes and the peritoneal metastasis resulted from metastasis of the right-side mandibular gingival cancer.