Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 6, 2019; 7(3): 357-365
Published online Feb 6, 2019. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v7.i3.357
Ghost cell odontogenic carcinoma of the jaws: Report of two cases and a literature review
Meng-Qi Jia, Jun Jia, Li Wang, Hai-Xiao Zou
Meng-Qi Jia, Jun Jia, Hai-Xiao Zou, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) and Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine Ministry of Education, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Meng-Qi Jia, Jun Jia, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Li Wang, Department of Pathology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Hai-Xiao Zou, Department of Stomatology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
Author contributions: All authors provided intellectual contribution to this manuscript; Jia MQ drafted the manuscript; Jia J analyzed and interpreted the patient data; Wang L confirmed the histopathological examination results; Zou HX reviewed the clinical notes and edited the document; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81502745; and Science and Technology Project of Jiangxi Province, No. GJJ170014.
Informed consent statement: This study was approved as a case report by the ethical institutional review board of Stomatological Hospital of Wuhan University. Both patients provided written informed consent prior to participation. We followed the Declaration of Helsinki guidelines.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hai-Xiao Zou, MD, Doctor, Department of Stomatology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 1, Minde Street, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China. haixiao_zou@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-791-86301002 Fax: +86-791-86292695
Received: October 19, 2018
Peer-review started: October 22, 2018
First decision: November 2, 2018
Revised: November 27, 2018
Accepted: December 21, 2018
Article in press: December 21, 2018
Published online: February 6, 2019
Processing time: 101 Days and 11.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Ghost cell odontogenic carcinoma (GCOC) is a rare malignant odontogenic epithelial tumor with features of benign calcifying odontogenic cysts. Herein, we report two new cases of GCOC and systematically review the previous literature.

CASE SUMMARY

In case 1, a 46-year-old man complained of painless swelling of the right maxilla for 3 years, with a 1-mo history of hemorrhinia in the right nasal cavity. In case 2, a 72-year-old man was referred to our hospital with a chief complaint of painful swelling of the right mandible. Initially, the preliminary diagnoses were ameloblastomas. Thus, the two patients underwent resection of the tumor under general anesthesia. Finally, immunohistochemical examination confirmed the diagnosis of GCOC. The patient in case 1 was followed for 2 years, with no evidence of recurrence. However, the patient in case 2 was lost to follow-up.

CONCLUSION

GCOC is a rare malignant odontogenic epithelial tumor with high recurrence. Local extensive resection is necessary for the definitive treatment of GCOC.

Keywords: Ghost cell; Odontogenic carcinoma; Pathological features; Treatment; Prognosis; Case report

Core tip: Ghost cell odontogenic carcinoma (GCOC) is a rare malignant odontogenic epithelial tumor with features of benign calcifying odontogenic cysts. Herein, we report two cases of GCOC and describe their clinical features, histological characteristics, and treatment. In addition, the tumor affected the tooth, suggesting that the disease may originate from an odontogenic tumor, progressing to malignant GCOC. Moreover, we analyze the reported cases in the English literature and summarize the prognosis and optimal therapy.