Ameloblastic carcinoma of the jaw

Abstract

The concept of primary intraosseus carcinoma is exclu- sive of the mandible and maxilla because it originates from odontogenic components. The ameloblastic carcinoma is a very rare lesion that can appear de novo or arise form a pre- vious lesion as an odontogenic cyst or ameloblastoma. The diagnosis is established when it is found histologic elements of an ameloblastoma together with histologically malignant epithelium, regardless of the presence of metastasis. This makes it different from the more common metastatic ameloblastoma in which the ameloblastoma has benign morphology and unexpectedly gives rise to a metastasis.This difference is of importance because the ameloblastic carcinoma is a very aggressive lesion, of rapid growth that gives mass effect, high recurrence rate and high mortality; while with the metastasic ameloblastoma the patient can survive several years after the metastasis appears. With this case several important aspects about the bio- logic behavior of ameloblastomas are discussed, such as its high recurrence rate, its local aggressiveness and certain- metabolic complications that may occur. Besides it illus- trates the clinical and histological difference between the rare malignant transformation of ameloblastomas and the importance of its adequate classification.