Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Ameloblastoma and Ameloblastic Carcinoma

M Philip, CG Morris, JW Werning, WM Mendenhall

Hong Kong J Radiol 2005;8:157-61

Objective: To determine the efficacy of radiotherapy in the treatment of ameloblastoma and ameloblastic carcinoma.

Patients and Methods: Two patients with ameloblastoma and 3 patients with ameloblastic carcinoma were treated with radiotherapy alone (1 patient) or surgery and postoperative radiotherapy (4 patients) at the University of Florida between 1973 and 2004. Follow-up ranged from 10 months to 3.3 years; no patient was lost to follow-up.

Results: Local control was achieved in all 5 patients. No patient developed regional or distant metastasis. One patient died of intercurrent disease at 2.1 years; 4 patients were alive and disease-free. No significant treatment-related complications were observed.

Conclusion: Adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy improves the likelihood of local control after surgery when margins are close or microscopically positive. Limited data suggest that radiotherapy alone may occasionally control patients with unresectable tumours.