Schwannoma of the lower lip, A rare entity: Case report

Abstract

Schwannomas are solitary, benign, slow growing, smooth surfaced, usually encapsulated tumors arising from the neural sheath schwann cells of the peripheral, cranial or autonomic nerves. Approximately 25 %-45 % occur in head and neck region most commonly in association with the acoustic nerve within the skull and rarely originate from the oral cavity (1- 3). Schwannomas of the oral cavity most commonly occur in the tongue followed by palate, floor of the mouth, gingiva, lip and the buccal mucosa (4, 5). Lower lip is an extremely rare location with only a few similar cases reported in the literature (2, 6). In this paper, we report an unusual case of schwannoma of the lower lip of a 21 year old male patient besides the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of the lesion are discussed.

Özet

Schwannomas, also known as neurilemmomas, are solitary benign tumors arising from nevre sheath schwann cells. Tongue is involved most frequently and they rarely occur in the lip area. Histopathological examination is the chief method of diagnosis and complete excision is the treatment of choice. Our report documents an unusual case of a schwannoma located in the lower lip of a 21 year old male patient emphasizing that schwannoma should be taken into consideration in differential diagnosis of any lower lip mass.