Meer Shabnum, Coleman Hedley, Altini Mario
University of the Witmatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2003 Sep;96(3):306-15. doi: 10.1016/s1079-2104(03)00209-9.
The head and neck region constitutes the second most common site of involvement for synovial sarcoma, accounting for up to 10% of all cases. Intraoral synovial sarcoma is rare; in fact, only 29 cases have been reported. We describe 2 additional cases occurring in the floor of the mouth and the retromolar area. In addition, we have reviewed the clinicopathologic features of the previously reported cases. Our findings indicate that intraoral lesions differ from lesions occurring in other sites only in that intraoral cases show a greater male predilection and a generally painless initial presentation. In the oral cavity, the possible earlier detection, easy accessibility, and small size render these tumors more likely to be amenable to surgical excision, but their biologic behavior remains aggressive, with a poor long-term prognosis. Awareness of the potential for the occurrence of this neoplasm in the oral cavity is important for effective histopathologic diagnosis of intraoral spindle cell malignancies.
