Pulmonary resection for multiple lung metastasis from ameloblastoma: a rare case report and literature review

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Ameloblastoma is a benign odontogenic epithelial neoplasm. Lung metastasis of ameloblastoma is extremely rare, and its biological behavior is still largely unknown. There is no consensus regarding the best method to treat metastasizing ameloblastoma.

Case presentation

This report documents a 37-year-old female patient with multiple incidental bilateral pulmonary nodules on computed tomography (CT) and a medical history of ameloblastoma of the left mandible. On admission, her physical examinations and laboratory examinations were unremarkable. The patient underwent partial lobectomy of the middle right and lower right lung nodules via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, and the pathological diagnosis was confirmed as ‘metastasizing ameloblastoma.’ No adjuvant therapy was administered, and no evidence of progression was observed at the 12-month follow-up.

Conclusion

This is a rare case with multiple lung metastasis from ameloblastoma who was successfully treated with multiple pulmonary resections. The present study indicated that surgery may be considered an appropriate choice for lung metastasis of ameloblastoma.

KEYWORDS:

• Ameloblastoma
• lung metastasis
• surgery
• prognosis

Author contributions

Authors’ contributions: GCZ and LZ were involved in concept, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation, wrote the first draft, and revised it critically in light of comments from other authors. QX involved in the conception, design, interpretation, manuscript revision, and final approval of the version to be submitted. XFW, BZW, and WT were involved in data acquisition, literature review, and discussion. All authors approved the final version submitted.

Acknowledgments

The authors declare no acknowledgments.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Peking Union Medical College (Beijing, China). All formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) ESCC tissue samples were obtained with informed consent and agreement.

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

The contents of the paper and the opinions expressed within are those of the authors, and it was the decision of the authors to submit the manuscript for publication.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China [2016YFC1303200].