High-grade Undifferentiated Malignant Neoplasm of the Oral Cavity in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus-positive Patient: A Case Report with Review on Immunohistochemistry Panel
Abstract
The term “undifferentiated tumor” describes a diverse collection of neoplasms that, when viewed under standard light microscopy, show little to no signs of cellular differentiation. It represents either a metastasis of unknown origin or a primary neoplasia without an obvious cell line of differentiation. Undifferentiated malignant neoplasm of oral cavity is a rare entity with a very poor prognosis. This report presents the case of a 40-year-old human immunodeficiency virus-positive male with a painless, gradually enlarging mass in the left upper posterior teeth region. Histopathology revealed round-to-ovoid cells exhibiting hyperchromatic nuclei along with prominent nucleoli and atypical mitotic figures. Lesion was confirmed as an undifferentiated malignant tumor by exclusion. All the immunohistochemical markers – lymphoid, melanotic, neuroectodermal, and epithelial lineage – were negative, except for weak focal positivity of CD56 and p16 markers, which did not help clarify the diagnosis. This case emphasizes the need to consider this tumor in the differential diagnosis of head and neck lesions. It also highlights the value of immunohistochemical analysis in reaching a correct diagnosis.
Related
- Primary Sublingual S100-Positive Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma in a Cat: A Case Report with Comprehensive Exclusionary Immunohistochemistry.
- Malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage mortality trends in the United States : A 25-year population-based serial cross-sectional study
- Pancreatic solid papillary neoplasm with high-grade malignant transformation and multiple hepatic metastases in an elderly male: a case report
- Malignant histiocytic neoplasm with dendritic differentiation via transdifferentiation of B-cell lymphoma
- Malignant transformation of intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct following non-standardized biliary-enteric drainage for hepatolithiasis: two case reports and literature review
BibTeX
@article{arora2026highgrade,
title = {{High-grade Undifferentiated Malignant Neoplasm of the Oral Cavity in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus-positive Patient: A Case Report with Review on Immunohistochemistry Panel}},
author = {Sakshi Arora and Pratiksha Kumar and Jaya Joshi and Arushi Chaure},
journal = {Contemporary Clinical Dentistry},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.4103/ccd.ccd_709_25},
url = {https://doi.org/10.4103/ccd.ccd_709_25},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - High-grade Undifferentiated Malignant Neoplasm of the Oral Cavity in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus-positive Patient: A Case Report with Review on Immunohistochemistry Panel
AU - Sakshi Arora
AU - Pratiksha Kumar
AU - Jaya Joshi
AU - Arushi Chaure
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Contemporary Clinical Dentistry
DO - 10.4103/ccd.ccd_709_25
UR - https://doi.org/10.4103/ccd.ccd_709_25
AB - The term “undifferentiated tumor” describes a diverse collection of neoplasms that, when viewed under standard light microscopy, show little to no signs of cellular differentiation. It represents either a metastasis of unknown origin or a primary neoplasia without an obvious cell line of differentiation. Undifferentiated malignant neoplasm of oral cavity is a rare entity with a very poor prognosis. This report presents the case of a 40-year-old human immunodeficiency virus-positive male with a painless, gradually enlarging mass in the left upper posterior teeth region. Histopathology revealed round-to-ovoid cells exhibiting hyperchromatic nuclei along with prominent nucleoli and atypical mitotic figures. Lesion was confirmed as an undifferentiated malignant tumor by exclusion. All the immunohistochemical markers – lymphoid, melanotic, neuroectodermal, and epithelial lineage – were negative, except for weak focal positivity of CD56 and p16 markers, which did not help clarify the diagnosis. This case emphasizes the need to consider this tumor in the differential diagnosis of head and neck lesions. It also highlights the value of immunohistochemical analysis in reaching a correct diagnosis.
SN - 0976-237X
SN - 0976-2361
ER -