Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the oral cavity: report of two cases and review of the literature.

The epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is an uncommon vascular neoplasm of borderline or intermediate malignant potential. Although numerous sites of involvement are possible, these tumors most commonly arise in soft tissue, liver, and lung. Involvement of the oral cavity is rare. Only 12 cases of intraoral epithelioid hemangioendothelioma have been reported in the English language literature. We review the salient features of these previously reported cases and present 2 additional intraoral cases--one presenting as an asymptomatic radiolucency in the posterior mandible of a 23-year-old female, and the other presenting as an asymptomatic, erythematous to purplish gingival nodule in a 28-year-old female. Intraoral tumors most commonly involve the gingival soft tissues and often are associated with adjacent alveolar bone resorption. Although it is not possible to estimate with accuracy the potential for recurrence and metastasis among intraoral tumors given the small number of previously reported cases, wide local excision with close clinical follow-up appears to be the treatment of choice for these tumors because of their unpredictable clinical behavior.