Carcinomatous invasion of the jaw bones roentgenographically considered.

Invasion of the jaw bones by continuity is a frequent occurrence in neoplasms originating in the gums; it is not unknown in cancers of the antrum, hard palate, floor of the mouth, tonsil, nasal cavity, buccal mucosa, tongue, soft palate, lip, and salivary glands, and it may occur as a result of cancer eroding from a nearby lymph node. Clinical examination alone is often inadequate to determine the presence or absence of jaw bone involvement, or its extent. In our experience, for example, it has not been unusual for carcinoma of the antrum to be diagnosed clinically and pathologically as gum cancer until the roentgenologist demonstrates the site of origin in the antrum. Since such information is essential for thorough treatment, x-ray evaluation of the jaws in patients having a cancer of a neighboring structure is regularly indicated (1, 9). Little seems to have appeared in the roentgen literature about the x-ray diagnosis of jaw bone invasion by carcinoma, although brief references can be found in textboo...