Chondrolipoma arising in the tongue and related literature review: A report of two cases

Abstract

Chondrolipomas are rare benign tumors composed of mature adipocytes, a metaplastic chondromatrix, and cartilaginous chondrocytes. Herein, we present two cases of chondrolipoma of the tongue. The first case involved a 62-year-old woman who had a painless mass on the border of her tongue for four years; the second patient was a 74-year-old woman with a painless mass on the dorsal aspect of her tongue that had persisted for approximately six decades. Both cases were clinically diagnosed as benign tumors and the patients underwent surgical excision under general anesthesia. No local recurrence was observed during their 5-year postoperative follow-up periods. We further investigated 19 cases of chondrolipoma arising in the lip and oral cavity, including 17 previously reported cases and the two presented cases. The cartilage found in these tumors likely represents metaplastic changes or hamartomatous proliferation, attributed to the multipotentiality of mesenchymal stem cells.