Chondrosarcoma of the maxilla: report of two cases with different behaviours.

Head and neck chondrosarcomas are rare and potentially lethal tumours, which are even more uncommon in the head and neck region. The diagnosis of chondrosarcoma is based on the histopathological pattern of malignant chondroid tissue proliferation. The grade of malignancy and the histological surgical margins are some of the most important prognostic factors for this group of tumour. In the present report we described two cases of chondrosarcoma affecting the maxilla, which presented different behaviours. The first patient, with a high-grade tumour, died of local recurrence and the second patient, with a low-grade tumour, is alive and free of disease 60 months after the treatment. These two cases emphasize the importance of histological tumour grade and appropriate treatment for the prognosis.