Surgical excision with the negative margins offers best cure rates for ameloblastoma: A case series and review of literature

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to report a case series of ameloblastoma treated by radical approach with a negative margin. Study Design: The clinical, demographic, and the histopathological data of 24 biopsy-proven ameloblastoma were obtained and analyzed retrospectively from the electronic medical records. Statistical analysis was done using the software SPSS 20.0. Disease-free survival was calculated using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Results: The mean age of the patients in the study group was 46.6 (range, 17–69) years with male to female ratio of 1.18:1. The most common site of origin was mandible (75%). There was a significant positive linear correlation between size and age of the patients with a correlation coefficient of 0.85 (P = 0.042). Patients having multicystic ameloblastoma had a significantly higher age of presentation and larger size than unicystic ameloblastoma (P < 0.05). The mean distance of the closest mucosal/bony cut margin from the lesion was 6 mm (range 1–45 mm). All patients were alive, and 95.8% of the patients were disease free at a mean follow-up of 48 months. Conclusion: We recommend appropriate radical treatment for most of the patients of ameloblastoma with a negative margin except for small unicystic ameloblastoma. Thus, it is time to revisit the concept of conservative procedures in the management of ameloblastoma.