Aggressive chondroblastic osteosarcoma of the jawbone

Osteosarcoma of the craniofacial bones (CFOS) usually behaves less aggressively than appendicular skeleton OS, resulting in a better therapeutic response to either surgery alone or multi-modality treatment. Here we report the case of a 54-year old male diagnosed with high-grade chondroblastic OS of the mandible, who presented with painful swelling of the horizontal branch of the right mandible, accompanied by paresthesias and paroxystic pain episodes. The patient was treated with aggressive surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy but, despite favorable clinical prognostic factors, disease rapidly progressed to local and distant relapse, causing the patient's death 18 months after diagnosis.