A Keratocyst in the Buccal Mucosa with the Features of Keratocystic Odontogenic Tumor

Abstract

A 74-year-old male patient consulted us for an elastic firm mass in the right buccal mucosa. CT examination revealed a well-circumscribed oval cystic lesion in the anterior region of the masseter muscle. On MRI, the lesion showed a low signal on T1-weighted image and a high signal on T2-weighted image. Aspiration biopsy demonstrated the presence of squamous cells in whitish liquid. Under the diagnosis of epidermoid cyst, the lesion was intraorally extirpated under general anesthesia. The lesion was cystic at the size of 30 × 25mm. Histologically, the cyst wall was lined with parakeratinized squamous epithelium corrugated on its surface, the basal layer of which consisted of cuboidal cells showing palisading of the nuclei. Immunohistochemically, the lining epithelium was positive for CK17 and negative for CK10. The basal and suprabasal cells were labeled for Ki-67 at a relatively high rate. These features are compatible with those of keratocystic odontogenic tumor.