AN UNUSUAL CLINICAL MANIFESTATION OF ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Abstract

A 64-year-old white female patient went to a dental service to investigate a lesion on her tongue that she had observed herself but could not tell how long this change had been in her mouth. On examination, a sessile, friable, normochromic nodule, measuring about 5mm, on the lateral border of the left tongue was detected, and the diagnostic hypothesis was a verrucous lesion. An excisional biopsy was performed, and the histopathological report was compatible with oral squamous cell carcinoma. This case report shows that oral malignant lesions do not always have a classical clinical manifestation, and often surprise even experienced professionals with this diagnosis. Therefore, it is essential to conduct a thorough diagnostic process of all oral lesions, regardless of the clinical diagnostic hypothesis of malignancy. A 64-year-old white female patient went to a dental service to investigate a lesion on her tongue that she had observed herself but could not tell how long this change had been in her mouth. On examination, a sessile, friable, normochromic nodule, measuring about 5mm, on the lateral border of the left tongue was detected, and the diagnostic hypothesis was a verrucous lesion. An excisional biopsy was performed, and the histopathological report was compatible with oral squamous cell carcinoma. This case report shows that oral malignant lesions do not always have a classical clinical manifestation, and often surprise even experienced professionals with this diagnosis. Therefore, it is essential to conduct a thorough diagnostic process of all oral lesions, regardless of the clinical diagnostic hypothesis of malignancy.