Gingival metastasis from gallbladder cancer.

Gallbladder cancer is generally diagnosed at an advanced stage. The liver is the most commonly invaded organ by direct extension and/or metastasis, followed by regional lymph nodes. Oral soft tissue metastasis is extremely unusual. This report describes the case of a 62-year-old woman diagnosed with advanced metastatic gallbladder cancer, who initially presented with abdominal pain. Diagnosis of gallbladder cancer was made about 3 months after her symptoms developed, when a laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed because of the suspicion of gallstones. Liver metastasis was also discovered during surgery. A postoperative investigation revealed additional lung and bone metastases. A visible left gingival tumor was found on physical examination and was confirmed as gallbladder cancer metastasis by compatible histopathology 1 month after surgery. The patient responded poorly to chemotherapy and unfortunately died 5 months after the diagnosis. The clinical presentation of gallbladder cancer was relatively typical, apart from the unusual gingival metastasis. The medical literature contains quite a few examples of metastatic lesions located strictly in the oral soft tissue, however no case of gallbladder cancer metastasizing to the oral soft tissue has been previously reported.