Soft palate metastasis from a small cell carcinoma of the lung

Metastases in the oral soft tissues are rare. They usually occur in the tongue and in the gingiva. The most common primary sites for lesions metastasizing to the oral tissues are lung, kidney, stomach, liver. The lung tumors are in the majority squamous cell carcinomas or adenocarcinoma; only rarely the primary tumors are small cell carcinomas. Small cell carcinoma is a highly malignant neoplasm with often extrathoracic metastases at the time of diagnosis, and a very low 5-years survival. Metastases from an occult lung carcinoma should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of small cell carcinomas in extrapulmonary sites.