Acantholytic variant of squamous cell carcinoma in the mandible: A rare entity and a brief review.

Abstract

Acantholytic Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ASCC) is an uncommon histopathologic variant of Squamous Cell Carcinoma which occurs in the sun-exposed skin and rarely in the oral cavity. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined ASCC as a unique entity, its occurrence in the oral cavity has been just about 60 cases in the literature. There have been cases reported in the lips, tongue, gingiva and maxillary alveolus but rarely in the mandible. Definitive diagnosis and treatment of such a rare condition is challenging as there are not much available data in the literature. We report a rare case of Acantholytic Squamous cell carcinoma with pathologic fracture of the mandible which was managed aptly considering its hostile clinical, radiological and histological presentation. The reconstruction was done using a vascularised free fibula graft which helped in achieving a functional and aesthetic rehabilitation for the patient thereby improving his quality of life.