Central adenocarcinoma of the mandible

A seemingly straightforward clinical diagnosis of ameloblastoma was made of a large radiolucent, multicystic lesion in the mandible. Biopsy and metastatic tumor work-up revealed the tumor to be primary in the mandible. A histopathologic diagnosis of papillary adenocarcinoma of salivary gland origin was made. This article reports a well-documented primary mandibular salivary gland tumor. A review of the literature and light and electron microscopic interpretation of this tumor are presented.