Table 1 Survey of the literature

Probert et al. 1974 [24]

96 Patients with SCC, 31% OSCC

lung 65%, bone 25%, liver 24%, skin 14%, brain 13%, adrenal 8%, heart 7%, kidney 6%, peritoneum, mediastinum and soft tissue each 5%, esophagus 4%, spleen 3%, bone marrow 3%, thyroid 2%, prostate 1% and middle ear 1%.

Merino et al. 1977 [25]

546 patients with SCC, 21% OSCC

primary tumor orally or in the oropharynx: lung 52%, bone 20.3%, liver 6%, mediastinum 2.9%, lung and bone 3.3% and others 15.4%. Primary tumor in the nasopharynx: bone 54%, lung 23.8%; primary tumors of the fossa tonsillaris and of the basis of the tongue: metastases were primarily found in the liver (22% and 10.8% respectiveliy)

Papac et al. 1984 [26]

52 patients with SCC, 4% at the bottom of the oral cavity, 10% tumors of the tongue

lung 75%, bone 44%, liver 17%, skin 13%, brain 13%, adrenal 6%, heart 8%, kidney 10%, GIT 15%, mediastinum 10%, spleen 3% and thyroid 6%.

Troell et al. 1995 [27]

79 patients with SCC with a total of 145 remote metastases.

lung 45, bone 27, liver 11, mediastinum 10 and other localisations (adrenal, brain, pericard, kidney and thyroid) 7.

De Bree et al. 2000 [28]

17 patients with SCC, 34% OSCC

lung 71%, mediastinum 24%, bone 24% and liver 6%.

Leon et al. 2000 [29]

64 patients with SCC, 2% OSCC

lung/mediastinum 52%, bone 12%, liver 5%, a combination of lung with bone and liver or skin 31%.

Kowalski et al. 2005 [30]

89 patients with distant metastases coming from oral or oropharyngeal SCC.

lung 58.4%, bone 37.1%, liver 3.4%, brain 3.4%, soft tissue 2.2%, peritoneum 1.1%, mediastinum 1.1%, axillary lymph nodes 1.1%, lung combined with bone 5,6%, lung combined with liver 1.1% and lung combined with brain 1.1%.

Alvarez Marcos et al. 2006 [31]

39 patients with SCC, 26% OSCC

lung 58%, bone 22%, liver 9%, soft tissue 9% and others 2%.