Aggressive juvenile mandibular fibromatosis

Abstract

Aggressive juvenile fibromatosis of the jawbones is a rare tumor presenting as infiltrative mass with unpredictable evolution. We report herein a 17-year-old student with a 6-month history of radiologically proven resorption of a part of the mandible, lingual displacement of tooth 34 and malocclusion. Alveolar ridge resorption and three dark-brown foci in the bone were seen after the tooth was extracted. Histological study showed the tumor tissue to have a bundle-like structure; immunohistochemically it was positive for vimentin, smooth muscle actin, beta-catenin, Ki-67 (5%), and negative for desmin and cytokeratin 34bE12. The golden standard in the diagnostics of desmoid fibromatoses is the nuclear or membrane expression of beta-catenin, which is found in 90% of the cases. Differential diagnosis include mandibular fibroma, well-differentiated fibrosarcoma, fibrosing histiocytoma, and infiltration from adjacent soft-tissue tumor. Aggressive juvenile fibromatosis should be managed by radical excision. Local recurrences are not rare, but metastases do not develop. In rare cases this type of fibromatosis has been known to regress spontaneously. Aggressive fibromatosis is a diagnostic challenge, since it remains in the grey zone between benign and malignant lesions of the oral cavity.