[A statistical study of autopsies performed on cases of oral cancer: with reference to distant metastasis in tongue cancer].

1. A statistical survey of oral-cancer (tongue, maxilla, and mandible) patients on which autopsies were performed by the 2nd. Department of Pathology of Tokyo Dental College from 1964 to 1987 was carried out. Of a total of 18 autopsies in cases in which death resulted from tongue carcinoma, 11 subjects were male and 7 female. Average age was 63.4 years. This cancer occurred most frequently in individuals in the age group of 60 to 69 years. The lung was the most common (50%) site of distant organic metastasis; the next most common sites were the liver, the thyroid gland, and the diaphragm (11.1% each). Submandibular and cervical lymph nodes were the most common sites of lymphatic metastasis in cases of tongue cancer. These data were similar to those in previous reports. 2. An autopsy on a 57-year-old man who died of tongue cancer revealed a number of distant metastases in both organs and lymph nodes were reported. 3. The report includes a review of literature on distant metastasis in cases of tongue cancer.