Indian Journal of Pathology and Oncology | 2019
Diversity and diagnostic challenges in salivary neoplasms
Abstract
Introduction: Salivary gland lesions exhibit a wide spectrum of clinical and morphological diversity. The\naim of this study was to evaluate the relative frequencies, types, site, distribution and histomorphological\nfeatures of salivary gland lesions.\nMaterials and Methods: A retrospective study for a period of two years was done on 40 cases of salivary\ngland lesions in the department of pathology at KAPV medical college, Trichy a Tertiary care centre. Cases\nwere analysed based on demographics, anatomical locations and histopathological types. Specimens were\nfixed in 10% formalin, processed and embedded in paraffin. Sections were stained by hematoxylin and\neosin. Histopathological examination was done by microscopy. Special immunohistochemical stains were\nused for certain rare cases of interest.\nResults: Out of 40 cases, 35 cases (87.5%) were neoplastic and 5 cases (12.5%) were non neoplastic.\nThe mean age of presentation was 38.925 (13-67yrs) with equal gender distribution. Regarding the site\ndistribution, Parotid was the common site for location of salivary tumours (18 cases, 45%). Most common\nbenign tumour was pleomorphic adenoma (22 cases, 78.5%) followed by basal cell adenoma (4 cases,\n14.2%). Among malignant tumours, mucoepidermoid carcinoma ranks the first (4 cases, 57.1%). One case\nof Acinic cell carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma with dedifferentiation, and a rare recently described\nvariant mammary analogue secretory carcinoma were also observed.\nConclusion: Histopathology remains the gold standard for diagnosing salivary gland lesions. They have\nbroad morphological spectrum and overlaps between tumour types. Immunohistochemistry serves as an\nadjunct tool to support histopathological diagnosis. It helps in planning treatment protocols to reduce\nmorbidity and mortality.\n\nKeywords:\xa0Salivary neoplasms,\xa0Dedifferentiated adenoid cystic\xa0carcinoma,\xa0Mammary analogue secretory\xa0carcinoma.