Central Papillary Cystadenocarcinoma of the Mandible: A Case Report

Papillary cystadenocarcinoma; Intraosseous tumor; Salivary gland neoplasm

Background: Central papillary cystadenocarcinoma of the jaw is an extremely rare tumor with only three previously reported cases in the English literature. This tumor is a histologically low-grade cancer, affecting only the mandible.

Methods: A 65-year-old woman presented with a two months history of a rapidly growing, painless mass of the right ascending ramus of the mandible. The patholologic report from incisional biopsy was a papillary cystic tumor with a differential diagnosis of cystadenoma versus cystadenocarcinoma.

Results: Segmental mandibulectomy, parotidectomy and submandibular gland resection were performed. The final pathology was intraosseous papillary cystadenocarcinoma.

Conclusions: Clinical features of central papillary cystadenocarcinoma of the mandible mimic an odontogenic lesion and metastatic bone disease, careful review of radiograph and pathology should be done. En bloc resection with adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy in high stage disease, and long-term follow-up allow the patient to have a favourable prognosis.