Magalhaes Marco A O, Somers Gino R, Sikorski Paula, Forte Vito, Abouzgia Moustafa, Barrett Edward, Bradley Grace
Assistant Professor, Oral Pathology & Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Associate Professor, Division of Pathology, SickKids Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2016 Nov;122(5):e179-e185. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2016.06.017. Epub 2016 Jul 14.
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is extremely rare in patients younger than 20 years of age. We present here a case of OSCC of the maxillary alveolar ridge in an otherwise healthy 8-year-old patient. The clinicohistologic presentation was not typical for mucosal SCC, and the possibility of an intrabony origin from the odontogenic epithelium was considered. The patient was treated with surgical resection, and treatment decisions were made with consideration of the need for eradication of tumor as well as tissue preservation to allow normal growth and development. A review of the literature indicated a preponderance of gingival-alveolar ridge as the site of OSCC in children with no known genetic predisposition to cancer. More studies of this rare subset of OSCC will help understand the underlying biology and guide treatment decisions.
