glandular odontogenic cyst ( goc ) is a rare lesion that arises in the tooth bearing areas of the jaws . padayachee and van wyk initially reported it as a sialodontogenic cyst in 1987 based on the possibility of salivary gland origin but its odontogenic origin was first described in 1988 by gardner et al . , who proposed the name goc because the cyst wall epithelium was odontogenic and contained mucin elements with no evidence of salivary tissue involvement . the term mucoepidermoid cyst or mucous producing cyst was used by sadeghib in 1991 due to the microscopic findings of mucus producing cells and squamous cells . in the 1992 world health organization ( who ) typing of odontogenic tumors , goc was defined as  a cyst arising in the tooth - bearing areas of the jaws characterized by an epithelial lining with cuboidal or columnar cells both at the surface and lining crypts or cyst - like spaces within the thickness of the epithelium  . goc is relatively rare lesion with a frequency rate of 0.012 - 1.3% of all the jaw cysts and its prevalence rate is 0.17% . it has two clinically important attributes : a  high recurrence rate  and an  aggressive growth potential  . goc primarily occurs in middle - aged patients with slight male predilection and the most common site of occurrence is mandibular anterior region where it usually presents as a painless , slow - growing swelling . radiographically , these cysts are described as well - defined , unilocular or multilocular without specific diagnostic characteristics . histologically , goc shows a non - keratinized stratified squamous epithelial lining , focal plaque like thickenings within the lining , microcysts or intraepithelial crypts containing mucin , mucous cells and hyaline bodies , eosinophilic cuboidal or columnar cells that may be ciliated , papillary projections of epithelium and absence of inflammation in the subepithelial connective tissue . the relative rarity of the lesion prompted us to add one more of our case and review the literature . a 30-year - old female patient reported with a swelling in the upper right back region of the jaw . the swelling was present since 8 months which was painless and increased gradually in size . intraorally a diffuse , non fluctuant and firm swelling was seen with normal overlying mucosa extending from the buccal aspect of 11 - 17 obliterating the vestibule [ figure 1 ] . panoramic radiographic examination revealed a well - defined unilocular radiolucency extending from 15 - 17 . 16 was carious with root resorption and roots of 15 and 17 were displaced [ figure 2 ] . gross examination showed a smooth to rough mass measuring 2.5  2 cm and the cut section showed a cystic wall filled with necrotic material [ figure 3 ] . histopathologic examination , revealed a cystic cavity lined by a non keratinized stratified squamous epithelium with surface layer composed of ciliated columnar cells [ figures 4 and 5 ] . immunohistochemistry ( ihc ) staining was done using ck-18 , ck-19 , p53 , ki-67 . among them clinical photograph shows swelling in the upper right back region of the jaw orthopantomogram shows radiolucent area in 15 , 16 , 17 region gross specimen showing a smooth lobulated mass photomicrograph shows lining epithelium ( h&e stain , 100 ) photomicrograph shows surface ciliated columnar epithelium ( h&e stain , 400 ) photomicrograph shows special stained mucous cells ( pas stain , 400 ) photomicrograph shows strong positive immunoreactions to the ki-67 protein ( ihc stain , 100 ) photomicrograph shows strong positive immunoreactions to the ck-19 protein ( ihc stain , 100 ) goc is a relatively rare entity . magnusson and co - authors evaluated 5900 cases of jaw bone cysts and found only 7 cases of goc , about 0.12% ; whereas van heerden and others reported 1.3% of goc in their study . in the present case the patient is a middle - aged female whereas existing literature reports a slight male predilection . the most common site of occurrence is the anterior region of mandible followed by anterior region of maxilla and posterior region of mandible . about three cases have been reported till date and ours is probably the fourth case . a diagnosis based only on clinical and radiological examination is difficult because of similarities with various other intrabony pathologies , hence a histopathological evaluation becomes mandatory . the histopathological characteristics of goc have been divided into major and minor categories by kaplan et al . goc should be distinguished from lateral periodontal cyst , botryoid odontogenic cyst , surgical ciliated cyst , radicular cyst with mucous metaplasia and central mec as it exhibits considerable overlapping of histopathological features [ figure 9 ] . , in their study found that goc showed positivity for p53 and ki-67 . when compared to mec , these markers could be auxillary aids in the differential diagnosis of these lesions . according to various authors , positive immunostaining with ck-18 and ck-19 in goc may further help in differentiating goc from central mucoepidermoid carcinoma ( mec ) . a recent study found significantly higher expression of both cytoplasmic and nuclear maspin in the mucous cells in low grade mec ( 16.5% cytoplasmic , 1.7% nuclear ) as compared with goc ( 1.5% and 0.3% ) or odontogenic cysts with mucous metaplasia ( 1% and 0.4% ) . several treatment modalities have been used which include curettage , enucleation with careful dissection of the margins and local block excision . however , the aggressive nature of the lesion has been reported and the recurrence rate is directly related to the size of the lesion . therefore , large lesions should be treated more aggressively and followed for a long period . it is important to consider histopathological features for its diagnosis since it bears resemblance to lesions like mec .