Soft tissue metastases affecting the paravertebral and vertebral region from squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jaw: a case report

Squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jaw is considered the least aggressive squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth and its tendency to metastasize is lower in comparison with other locations of the oral cavity. It usually metastasizes via the lymphatic system at cervical level and distant metastases are extremely uncommon. In this sense, only approximatively 50 cases of distant metastases have been described. We report a case of oral squamous cell carcinoma soft tissue metastasis affecting the paravertebral and vertebral region in a 60-year-old patient with a squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jaw. Following careful analysis of the case by the tumor board, the patient was referred to the orthopedic department for evaluation, and ultimately underwent ablative surgery to remove the single soft tissue metastasis. Unfortunately, due to the aggressiveness of the disease patient died 2 months after the surgical removal of the soft tissue metastasis. The main aim of this brief report is to describe this extremely rare location of distant metastases caused by a maxillary squamous cell carcinoma. Although squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jaw usually shows a better prognosis compared with other locations of the oral cavity, it might be particularly aggressive in certain patients.