A unique presentation of a squamous cell carcinoma in a pregnant patient

The literature reports an increasing occurrence of carcinoma in the young adult nonsmoking and nondrinking population. With it, this trend brings the potential for new comorbidities. This report discusses one such case in which a 30-year-old woman, 28 weeks pregnant, was diagnosed with a hybrid verrucous carcinoma/squamous cell carcinoma. Several years preceding the presentation of the hybrid lesion, the patient had an odontogenic cyst associated with the same region. The original lesion was reported to have mucosal change overlying it. Newly available immunohistochemical stains were used to review the lesion to assess the potential for aggressiveness and proliferative changes. All the biomarkers were unremarkable, suggesting that the progression of the initial lesion could not have been predicted with the current immunohistochemical stains. This report discusses the diagnosis and treatment of this unusual scenario involving progression of a benign lesion to a malignant hybrid. Keywords: dentigerous cyst, HPV, immunohistochemical stains, keratocystic odontogenic tumor, P53, PCNA, squamous cell carcinoma, verrucous carcinoma