AMELOBLASTIC CARCINOMA OF THE MAXILLA

Ameloblastic carcinoma is an unusual tumour. There have been a total o f 34 cases of ameloblastic carcinoma in the English literature to date . Of these only 11 cases have occurred in the maxilla; The authors rep ort the 12th such case, The histological classification for odontogeni c carcinoma has been debated for many years and recently revised, thus differentiating between malignant ameloblastoma and ameloblastic carc inoma. The authors review the current literature regarding diagnosis a nd treatment of this unusual lesion: and support the use of the: term malignant ameloblastoma for the tumours that metastasize in spite of t heir benign histological appearance, whereas, the ameloblastic carcino ma is referred to as the primary tumour with malignant transformation, regardless of its metastatic potential.