Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary gingiva: A case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) is a rare, but distinct histologic variant of squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck region. It is considered to have a poor prognosis due to its aggressive behavior and tendency to metastasize. The usual sites of BSCC are the floor of the mouth, hypopharynx and base of the tongue, and according to the English-language literature its presentation in the gingiva is somewhat uncommon. In the current report, the unusual case of a 40-year-old male is presented; the patient exhibited a painless irregular mass in the maxillary gingiva, which infiltrated the maxillary sinus, as observed by computed tomography. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections revealed a diagnosis of BSCC with typical central necrosis in the cancer nests, which contained basaloid and squamous cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed that p63 was weakly positive, high molecular weight cytokeratin (CK) was focally positive, and S-100, CK7, CK14 and vimentin were negative. It must be noted that histopathology results may be incorrectly interpreted as adenoid cystic carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma and basal cell adenocarcinoma.