Gingival neoplasms: a multicenter collaborative study of 888 patients in Brazil

Background: To evaluate the prevalence and clinicopathological features of a large series of gingival neoplasms in Brazil.Material and Methods: All gingival benign and malignant neoplasms were retrieved from the records of six Oral Pathology Services in Brazil, during a 41-year period. Clinical and demographic data, clinical diagnosis, and his-topathological data were collected from the patients' clinical charts. For statistical analysis, the chi-square, median test of independent samples and the U Mann-Whitney tests were used, considering a significance of 5%.Results: From 100,026 oral lesions, 888 (0.9%) were gingival neoplasms. There were 496 (55.9%) males, with a mean age of 54.2 years. Most cases (70.3%) were malignant neoplasms. Nodules (46.2%) and ulcers (38.9%) were the most common clinical appearance for benign and malignant neoplasms, respectively. Squamous cell carcino-ma (55.6%) was the most common gingival neoplasm, followed by squamous cell papilloma (19.6%). In 69 (11.1%) malignant neoplasms, the lesions were clinically considered to be inflammatory or of infectious origin. Malignant neoplasms were more common in older men, appeared with larger size, and with a time of complaint shorter than benign neoplasms (p<0.001).Conclusions: Benign and malignant tumors may appear as nodules in gingival tissue. In addition, malignant neo-plasms, especially squamous cell carcinoma, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent single gingival ulcers.Conclusions: Benign and malignant tumors may appear as nodules in gingival tissue. In addition, malignant neo-plasms, especially squamous cell carcinoma, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent single gingival ulcers.