Central mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the mandible: report of four cases with long-term follow-up.

Central mucoepidermoid carcinomas are uncommon tumours, representing about 2 to 4% of all mucoepidermoid carcinomas. They are histologically low-grade cancers, usually affecting the mandible as uni- or multilocular radiographic lesions. The authors report four cases of central mucoepidermoid carcinomas affecting the mandible and discuss their clinical, radiographic and histological findings. Four females were affected, with a mean age of 42 years and all cases involved the posterior mandible. Treatment included surgery in three cases and surgery associated to neck dissection and radiotherapy in one case. Two patients showed no recurrence and were alive without signs of the disease after a mean follow-up of 78 months. The other two patients showed local recurrence and one was alive with disease after a follow-up of 384 months, and the other was followed-up for 324 months dying by other causes without signs of the tumour. Central mucoepidermoid carcinomas of the mandible are low-grade tumours, and effective surgical treatment involving wide local excision or en bloc resection allows patients to have a favourable prognosis after long-term follow-up.