[Tumors of the mandibular condyle (author's transl)]

Three cases of tumors of the mandibular condyle are reported. One patient had metastases from a cutaneous melanoblastoma, another a benign osteochondroma, and the third a plasmocytosarcoma revealing the presence of Kahler disease. The authors emphasize the rare nature of these lesions, in spite of the technical advances made in the radiological and surgical exploration of the temporomandibular joint, and also the large variety of histological types reported in the literature. They discuss the main diagnostic features, especially in isolated lesions in patients with no relevant past history, and stress the importance of surgical biopsy. Therapy varies from surgical treatment in benign tumors, the prognosis being excellent, to usually palliative therapy in malignant lesions.