Central giant cell granuloma of the jaw: a review of the literature with emphasis on therapy options

Central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) is a benign lesion of the jaws with an unknown etiology. Clinically and radiologically, a differentiation between aggressive and non-aggressive lesions can be made. The incidence in the general population is very low and patients are generally younger than 30 years. Histologically identical lesions occur in patients with known genetic defects such as cherubism, Noonan syndrome, or neurofibromatosis type 1. Surgical curettage or, in aggressive lesions, resection, is the most common therapy. However, when using surgical curettage, undesirable damage to the jaw or teeth and tooth germs is often unavoidable and recurrences are frequent. Therefore, alternative therapies such as injection of corticosteroids in the lesion or subcutaneous administration of calcitonin or interferon alpha are described in several case reports with variable success. Unfortunately, randomized clinical trials are very rare or nonexistent. In the future, new and theoretically promising therapy options, such as imatinib and OPG/AMG 162, will be available for these patients.