Oral carcinoma cuniculatum presenting with moth-eaten destruction of the mandible

Publication date: Available online 3 February 2018
Source:Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology
Author(s): Chunye Zhang, Yuhua Hu, Zhen Tian, Ling Zhu, Chenping Zhang, Jiang Li
Objective.Carcinoma cuniculatum(CC) is a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma. We describe the clinicopathological findings in a new case.Study Design.Literature review and retrospective study of a case with CC.Results.The clinical and imaging findings of CC are diverse; some cases might be challenging to diagnose accurately by biopsy. This article reports a case of CC that occurred in the retromolar region with involvement of the mandible. The patient was a 39-year-old man. Clinically, the lesion manifested as an ulcerative mass in the mandibular molar region. Imaging results showed that the lesion in the jaw exhibited moth-eaten destruction without obvious expansion of the jaw bone. The postoperative pathological examinations were consistent with CC; additionally, metastases were present in one level II lymph node and one submandibular lymph node. Left soft tissue metastasis and right cervical lymph node metastases were detected after 10 and 27 months after surgery, respectively.Conclusions.CC is a rare epithelial malignant tumor and has variable clinical manifestations. The diagnosis of CC mainly depends upon pathological features. Most patients with CC have a good prognosis; only a small percentage of patients might experience lymph node metastasis.



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