Surgical management of osteogenic sarcoma of the mandible

Osteogenic sarcoma is the most common malignant tumor of the mandible. It is less aggressive than osteogenic sarcoma of the long bones, and mortality is often due to local persistence or intracranial extension. We report such a case to emphasize that disarticulation of the mandible is necessary, since clinical and pathologic evaluation of tumor extent may be impossible. Except for parasymphysial lesions, disarticulation with midline hemimandibulectomy and frozen section assessment of all margins is recommended.