Rhabdomyosarcoma of the maxillary gingiva

Abstract

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a malignant skeletal muscle neoplasm. The tumor is much more common
in children, and the most frequent site is head and neck region. Since this tumor is less frequent
than other neoplasms in oral cavity, the clinicians sometimes ignore it, working the patients up.
Rhabdomyosarcoma is a high‑grade malignancy with poor prognosis. Considering the aggressive
behavior and various clinical or histopathologic presentations of the tumor, early diagnosis has
a significant impact on the treatment outcome and prognosis of the patients. We highlight the
importance of combining the clinical, radiographic, and histopathologic examination to obtain a
definitive diagnosis in sarcomas of the head and neck region, especially rhabdomyosarcoma. A case
of rhabdomyosarcoma of the maxillary gingiva is presented in a 32‑year‑old woman in which the
primary incisional biopsy was erroneously interpreted as an inflammatory process and consequently,
the accurate diagnosis postponed for about 10 months.
Key Words: Head and neck, immunohistochemistry, oral cavity, rhabdomyosarcoma