diff --git a/docling/backend/msword_backend.py b/docling/backend/msword_backend.py
index abbcc6f6..45c53a98 100644
--- a/docling/backend/msword_backend.py
+++ b/docling/backend/msword_backend.py
@@ -1104,8 +1104,17 @@ class MsWordDocumentBackend(DeclarativeDocumentBackend):
                     )
                 _log.debug(f"  spanned before row {spanned_idx}")
 
+                # Detect equations in cell text
+                text, equations = self._handle_equations_in_text(
+                    element=cell._element, text=cell.text
+                )
+                if len(equations) == 0:
+                    text = cell.text
+                else:
+                    text = text.replace("<eq>", "$").replace("</eq>", "$")
+
                 table_cell = TableCell(
-                    text=cell.text,
+                    text=text,
                     row_span=spanned_idx - row_idx,
                     col_span=cell.grid_span,
                     start_row_offset_idx=row.grid_cols_before + row_idx,