The purpose of this systematic review was to answer the clinical question "When should elective neck dissection be performed in maxillary gingival and alveolar squamous cell carcinoma with a cN0 neck?" A systematic review, designed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, was conducted by two independent reviewers with three rounds of search and evaluation. Ten studies with 506 patients were included in the final review. The overall risk of cervical metastasis was 23.2% for those who did not receive an elective neck dissection (END), which was 3.4 times higher than that in the END group (6.8%). The 5-year survival rate was higher in those who had an END (80.3%) when compared to those who did not receive an END (67.4%). Overall, 14.1% of the cases with cN0 maxillary squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) presented with positive node(s) in pathological specimens after END. The risk of occult cervical metastasis in a cN0 maxillary SCC case with pathological stage pT1, pT2, pT3, and pT4 was 11.1%, 12.1%, 20%, and 36.1%, respectively. It is therefore concluded that END is recommended in patients with cN0 maxillary SCC, especially in stage T3 or T4 cases.
A case of gigantic pyogenic granuloma with three recurrences in the lower anterior gingiva is presented. Surgical wide excision of the lesion is the treatment of choice. The tumour must be excised down to the periosteum and the irritants around it removed to avoid recurrence. A contributing factor to the gigantic lesion is hormonal changes during pregnancy. Long-term review for 18 months after the third surgery showed no evidence of recurrence at the surgical site.
Oral mucosal melanoma is rare and more aggressive than cutaneous melanoma. Hard palate and maxillary alveolar crest are most commonly involved. Multidisciplinary team approach is necessary for successful management of this tumor. The main treatment modality is surgical resection, which usually results in impaired mastication, deglutition, speech, oral competence and significant cosmetic deformity. Here, a rare case of oral mucosal melanoma of mandibular gingiva in a 44-year man is reported, who was treated by en-block mandibular resection followed by adjuvant therapy with high dose interferons (IFN) - 2b. Following two weeks of healing period, prosthetic rehabilitation of the patient was done with an interim removable denture prosthesis, which effectively limited the unfavourable effects of surgery and helped him in resocialisation.