Malignant ameloblastoma metastatic to the lungs 29 years after primary resection: a case report

We describe a case of a 55-year-old man presenting with a metastatic malignant ameloblastoma 29 years after the primary tumor was resected. This represents the longest period between initial diagnosis and first subsequent metastasis recorded as a case report. This case illustrates distinctions between the terms metastatic and malignant; it also highlights the difficulties derived from the accumulation of data by new diagnostic modalities (electron beam CT and positron emission tomography) and their integration into assessment algorithms.