Congenital epulis: A rare benign tumor in the newborn

Congenital epulis (CE) of the newborn is a rare benign soft tissue tumor that presents at birth. It occurs usually as a single mass with various sizes, although some multiple lesions have also been reported. The lesion is more common in female neonates and normally affects the maxillary alveolar ridge. Rare recurrence and no malignant alteration have also been reported. This condition may interfere with respiration, feeding or adequate closure of the mouth. A decisive diagnosis is made by histopathologic analysis as other newborn lesions can be incorrectly diagnosed as CE. This article presents a case report of a female infant who presented a fibrotic mass in the primary lateral incisor and canine region of the maxillary alveolar ridge. The lesion was not causing feeding or respiratory problems. After a watchful waiting procedure and no spontaneous regression, the lesion was excised under local anesthesia and confirmed by histopathologic analysis as CE.

Peripheral calcifying cystic odontogenic tumour of the maxillary gingiva

Background: Odontogenic tumors are lesions that are derived from remnants of the components of the developing tooth germ. The calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor or calcifying odontogenic cyst is a benign cystic neoplasm of odontogenic origin that is characterized by an ameloblastoma-like epithelium and ghost cells. Calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor may be centrally or peripherally located, and its ghost cells may exhibit calcification, as first described by Gorlin in 1962. Most peripheral calcifying cystic odontogenic tumors are located in the anterior gingiva of the mandible or maxilla. Case presentation. Authors report a rare case of a peripheral calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor of the maxillary gingiva. A 39-year-old male patient presented with a fibrous mass on the attached buccal gingiva of the upper left cuspid teeth. It was 0.7-cm-diameter, painless and it was clinically diagnosed as a peripheral ossifying fibroma. After an excisional biopsy, the diagnosis was peripheric calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor. The patient was monitored for five years following the excision, and no recurrence was detected. Conclusions: All biopsy material must be sent for histological examination. If the histological examination of gingival lesions with innocuous appearance is not performed, the frequency of peripheral calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor and other peripheral odontogenic tumors may be underestimated. © 2012 Lima et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Periodontal plastic surgery associated with treatment for the removal of gingival overgrowth

Background: Excisional biopsies of gingival overgrowths, performed with safety margins, frequently result in mucogingival defects. These defects may produce esthetic problems and increase the chances of dentin hyperesthesia and its possibility of hindering oral hygiene. Methods: Two clinical cases are reported in which gingival overgrowths were removed by excisional biopsy, resulting in unsightly defects. The first clinical case presents an invasive approach for the treatment of a recurrent pyogenic granuloma in the anterior maxilla, and the second depicts a complete removal of a peripheral odontogenic fibroma in the posterior maxilla. In both situations, the soft-tissue defects were repaired by periodontal plastic surgery, including a laterally positioned flap and a coronally positioned flap, respectively. Results: Periodontal plastic surgery successfully restored the defects that resulted from biopsies, and no recurrence has been noticed in the 5-year postoperative follow-up period. Conclusions: The combination of biopsy and periodontal plastic surgery in a one-step procedure seems to be suitable to remove gingival overgrowths in most areas of the mouth, regardless of esthetic significance. Such procedures seem to restore gingival health, encourage healing, and create both esthetics and function in the excised area.

Exophytic mass of the gingiva as the first manifestation of metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: Metastasis of a malignant tumor to the oral cavity is rare, but it can be the first manifestation of a primary tumor. METHODS: The clinicopathologic features of a gingival metastasis originating from lung adenocarcinoma in a female patient are described. A 57-year-old woman showed a rapidly growing, painless, exophytic mass in the left mandibular gingiva. The whole lesion was excised, and histologic and immunohistochemical analyses were performed. RESULTS: The histopathologic sections showed a proliferation of poorly differentiated spindle and pleomorphic cells. Because the differentiation between carcinoma and sarcoma of spindle cell tumors was difficult, additional immunohistochemical evaluation was performed. The intraoral healing after tumor removal was uneventful. The discrepancy between the histopathologic results and the clinical findings led to a thorough examination by the patient's physician. Finally, a biopsy of the lungs confirmed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with multiple metastases, including the oral cavity. CONCLUSIONS: An exophytic lesion on the gingiva can be the first sign of metastatic adenocarcinoma to the oral mucosa. This case emphasizes that even apparently benign-looking gingival lesions in anamnestically healthy patients need to be examined histopathologically.

Can tissue engineering concepts advance tumor biology research?

Advances in tissue engineering have traditionally led to the design of scaffold- or matrix-based culture systems that better reflect the biological, physical and biochemical environment of the natural extracellular matrix. Although their clinical applications in regenerative medicine tend to receive most of the attention, it is obvious that other areas of biomedical research could be well served by the powerful tools that have already been developed in tissue engineering. In this article, we review the recent literature to demonstrate how tissue engineering platforms can enhance in vitro and in vivo models of tumorigenesis and thus hold great promise to contribute to future cancer research.

Engineered silk fibroin protein 3D matrices for in vitro tumor model

3D in vitro model systems that are able to mimic the in vivo microenvironment are now highly sought after in cancer research. Antheraea mylitta silk fibroin protein matrices were investigated as potential biomaterial for in vitro tumor modeling. We compared the characteristics of MDA-MB-231 cells on A. mylitta, Bombyx mori silk matrices, Matrigel, and tissue culture plates. The attachment and morphology of the MDA-MB-231 cell line on A. mylitta silk matrices was found to be better than on B. mori matrices and comparable to Matrigel and tissue culture plates. The cells grown in all 3D cultures showed more MMP-9 activity, indicating a more invasive potential. In comparison to B. mori fibroin, A. mylitta fibroin not only provided better cell adhesion, but also improved cell viability and proliferation. Yield coefficient of glucose consumed to lactate produced by cells on 3D A. mylitta fibroin was found to be similar to that of cancer cells in vivo. LNCaP prostate cancer cells were also cultured on 3D A. mylitta fibroin and they grew as clumps in long term culture. The results indicate that A. mylitta fibroin scaffold can provide an easily manipulated microenvironment system to investigate individual factors such as growth factors and signaling peptides, as well as evaluation of anticancer drugs.