Primary intraosseous carcinoma of the mandible: a case report.

A case of primary intraosseous carcinoma of the mandible in a 75-year-old man is reported. This tumor is an uncommon lesion arising from odontogenic rests. This tumor affects men more than women and is more frequent in the sixth and seventh decades of age. Most tumors occur in the posterior mandible as painful, non-ulcerated lesions, even if several cases have shown complete absence of subjective symptoms in early phases; often they are detected first on routine radiographs. Radiographically the lesion usually shows a fully enclosed, irregular pattern of bone destruction, even if sometimes the margins are well defined. The accepted treatment is radical surgery; but metastases could occur in lymph nodes.