A case of malignant lymphoma of the maxillary gingiva-alveolar region is documented. This case presented difficulty in histopathological differential diagnosis from squamous cell carcinoma.
The patient was a 46 year-old man.He had a lesion from the upper gingiva of the molar region on the left side to the paranasal sinuses. On first biopsy examination, the lesion was diagnosed as poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. He was treated with radiation and chemotherapy. After this treatment, a rapid growth of the left supramandibular lymph node was seen.
The histopathological diagnosis of the extirpated tumor was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, pleomorphic type. Retrospectively, the lesion of the gingiva-alveolar region, which was diagnosed previously as poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, was considered to be malignant lymphoma. Special attention should be paid to the fact that the figure of malignant lymphoma's cells can be similar to that of poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma's cells.
