Open AccessPrimary Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Parotid Gland. Report of a Rare Case
Author(s) -
Konstantinos I. Tosios,
Vasileios Papanikolaou,
Dimitrios Vlachodimitropoulos,
Nikolaοs Goutas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
head and neck pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.801
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1936-0568
pISSN - 1936-055X
DOI - 10.1007/s12105-021-01300-0
Subject(s) - synaptophysin , pathology , immunohistochemistry , parotid gland , salivary gland , chromogranin a , immunophenotyping , neuroendocrine differentiation , medicine , metastasis , acinic cell carcinoma , carcinoma , mucoepidermoid carcinoma , cancer , immunology , flow cytometry , prostate cancer
Primary neuroendocrine carcinomas of the salivary glands are very rare neoplasms that present light microscopic, ultrastructural, and immunohistochemical features of neuroendocrine differentiation. Twelve cases have been published in the English language literature. We describe the pathologic features of a case of primary large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the parotid gland in a 91-year old male and summarize the immunophenotype of previously reported LCNECs of the major salivary glands. It is concluded that primary LCNEC of the salivary glands presents as a high-grade undifferentiated carcinoma, whose diagnosis may be hindered by its rarity and non-specific light microscopic features. A high level of awareness, immunohistochemical staining for neuroendocrine markers synaptophysin and CD56, and a thorough diagnostic work-up in order to exclude metastasis from a primary neuroendocrine carcinoma will allow its diagnosis.