Acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary gingiva: Case report and literature review

Acantholytic squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) is an uncommon, histologically distinctive variant of squamous cell carcinoma. It occurs rarely in the oral cavity, and is especially rare at the maxillary gingiva. We report here the case of a 64-year-old female who requested examination of a diffuse swelling of the anterior maxilla. The histological diagnosis was ASCC. Maxillectomy involving the full-thickness of the upper lip, bilateral selective neck dissection, and immediate reconstruction with a double-folded, free radial forearm flap was conducted. The postoperative course was quite good. Neither recurrence nor metastases was found 30 months postoperatively. Only 15 cases of ASCC in the oral cavity have previously been reported, and our present case was the sixteenth. To improve understanding of the treatment and prognosis of ASCC, all published intraoral cases were reviewed.