It has been widely accepted that distant metastasis of the hepatoma to the other organs so readily occurs that about 50% of cases are discovered to have already been metastatic at an appointement of diagnosis. The prognosis of hepatoma mainly
depends on
the size, shape and residual function of the liver, and not so much concern was given to the distant metastasis. But recently, by the means of early detection, embolization of hepatic artery and radiotherapy, survival period of the patients is
getting
longer. And as a result the distant metastasis is more emphasized. Hepatoma metastasizes primarily to lung, and in the order of lymph node in the abdominal cavity, parathyroid gland, and bone. In a few cases, the biopsy of the metastatic area
reveals
that the primary site is the liver.
Primary hepatoma, metastatic to the mouth are and most cases are diagnosed that primary site of occurrence is liver, through the biopsy at the time of visit due to the mass in the oral cavity.
In this context, the authors report 2 cases of primary hepatoma which metastasized to the mandible and gingiva. One case, a 60 year old man in 1988, was diagnosed by the biopsy because of the mass in the left mandibular body and the ramus, after
that
the abdominal ultrasonography and abdominal computerized tomography were done to identify the metastasis of the hepatoma. Resultantly the final diagnosis was primary hepatoma that metastasized to the mandible. And the other case, 61 year old man
in
1992, was diagnosed through the intraoral biopsy and hepatocellular aspiration because of the rapidly growing mass on the gingiva. This case was also diagnosed to be a primary hepatoma.
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