Table 4. Soft Tissue Enlargements

Reactive	Tumors
Regress, resolve	Persistent and progressive
Often symptomatic	Often asymptomatic
Growth rate: hours, days, weeks	Growth rate: weeks, months, years
Fluctuate in size	Persistent & progressive
Sometimes associated with tender, soft lymph nodes	Lymph nodes not enlarged unless associated with metastatic cancer; then they are firm & non-tender
Sometimes associated with systemic manifestations	Systemic manifestations occur late in the course of cancer
Benign Tumors	Malignant Neoplasms
Slow growth: months, years	Rapid growth: weeks, months
Overlying mucosa is usually normal unless traumatized	Overlying mucosa more likely to be ulcerated
Often not fixed to surrounding structures	Fixed to surrounding structures
May move teeth	May loosen teeth
Asymptomatic	More likely to be painful
Well circumscribed	Poorly circumscribed