Oral soft tissue lipomas: a case series

Abstract

Objective: Lipomas are relatively uncommon tumours in the oral cavity; only 1% to 4% of cases occur at this site. In this study, we describe the clinical and histopathologic features of 6 cases of oral lipoma.

Materials and methods: Between 1997 and 2005, the files for all cases of oral lipoma at the oral pathology division, University of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil, were retrieved for study. Clinical data were retrieved from patient records, and all cases were reviewed microscopically and classified.

Results: Of the 6 cases, 3 occurred in males and 3 in females; their mean age was 50.2 years (range: 28-78 years). Most cases affected the buccal mucosa and the mean size of the tumours was 3.0 cm (range: 1.5-5.0 cm). Microscopically, 4 cases were classified as lipoma, 1 as fibrolipoma and 1 as intramuscular or infiltrative lipoma. All cases had been treated by simple surgical excision and there had been no recurrence after a mean treatment time of 50.3 months (range: 8-72 months).

Conclusion: Oral lipomas are uncommon tumours that predominantly affect the buccal mucosa and are associated with an excellent prognosis.