Verrucous Carcinoma of the Left Buccal Vestibule in a Chronic Tobacco Smoker: A Case Report

Verrucous carcinoma isn't something clinicians come across every day. It is a rare, slow-growing form of squamous cell carcinoma that tends to stay local, spreading inward and damaging nearby tissue rather than travelling to distant parts of the body. It usually turns up in older men who have used tobacco for many years, and the mouth is one of its most common sites. In this report we describe a 57-year-old man who came to us with a swelling on the left side of his face that had been growing for about ten days. On examining his mouth, we found a large ulceroproliferative lesion in the left buccal vestibule. He had been a chronic smoker for roughly a decade and also drank alcohol regularly. After a careful clinical workup and histopathological study of a biopsy sample, the diagnosis of oral verrucous carcinoma was confirmed. He was advised to undergo surgical excision and was strongly counselled to give up tobacco and alcohol. The main takeaway we want to stress is simple: a persistent, odd-looking oral lesion in a tobacco user should never be brushed aside, because picking it up early can change everything.