Maxillofacial Malignancy in Pregnancy; Report of Two Cases

Abstract

Pregnancy is a physiological period in a woman’s life. It is well known that some pathological changes have been reported to be more common in pregnancy than other stages of the life. It seems that primary tumors have a tendency to progress more rapidly in pregnancy due to hormonal alterations or increased expression of some growth factors. The exact relationship between pregnancy and malignancy has not been established. There are different kinds of malignancies occurring during pregnancy. Herein, we report malignant tumors of the jaws in two pregnant patients. Histopathological diagnosis was compatible with chondroblastic variant of osteosarcoma and squamous cell carcinoma, respectively. The clinical practitioners and dentists must be able to differentiate between the inflammatory and neoplastic conditions, especially during pregnancy to avoid unnecessary treatments which could lead to harmful effects on pregnant woman or her fetus.