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Mucus‐producing adenopapillary (non‐epidermoid) carcinoma of the parotid gland
Author(s) -
Blanck Carl,
Eneroth CarlMagnus,
Jakobsson Per Å.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197109)28:3<676::aid-cncr2820280324>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - mucoepidermoid carcinoma , medicine , epidermoid carcinoma , neck dissection , carcinoma , pathology , parotid gland , adenoid , adenoid cystic carcinoma , squamous carcinoma
In a histologic reexamination and reclassification of a series of 1,678 tumors of the parotid gland, 47 (2.8%) exhibited structures characteristic of mucusproducing adenopapillary (non‐epidermoid) carcinoma. There seems to be a rather close relationship between this tumor type and mucoepidermoid carcinoma. The differential diagnostic difficulties between these two groups can perhaps explain why in earlier works the groups of mucus‐producing adenopapillary carcinoma are so small and mostly contain only occasional cases. Our strict criterion of mucoepidermoid carcinoma, demanding the demonstration of squamous differentiation, separates these tumors from mucus‐producing adenopapillary (non‐epidermoid) carcinomas. This can explain why the group of mucoepidermoid carcinomas comprised 3.7% in our series as compared to 4–12% in other works. Histologically, we have divided the 47 tumors into two subgroups: one consisting of 28 invasive growing tumors (high‐grade malignant) and one of 19 non‐invasive growing tumors (low‐grade malignant). The high‐grade malignancies have a poor prognosis with a determinate survival rate similar to adenoid cystic carcinoma, and the prognosis of the low‐grade type is comparable to that of low‐grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. In order to improve the poor prognosis in the high‐grade mucus‐producing adenopapillary carcinoma, the authors recommend that parotidectomy should be routinely combined with radical neck dissection.