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Case Reports
. 2003 Jan 17:3:1.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2482-3-1.

Poorly differentiated carcinoma arising from adenolymphoma of the parotid gland

Stefano Ferrero  1 , Laura Cattaneo, Andrea Peri, Paola Braidotti, Ugo Cioffi, Gabriele Scaramellini, Michele M Ciulla, Matilde De Simone, Carmelo Arizzi, Lorenzo Pignataro
Affiliations
Case Reports

Poorly differentiated carcinoma arising from adenolymphoma of the parotid gland

Stefano Ferrero et al. BMC Surg. .

Abstract

Background: There is only one previous case report of a poorly differentiated carcinoma arising from an adenolymphoma of the parotid gland (Warthin's tumour). The absence of clinical symptoms, and the aspecificity of the radiological pattern make the diagnosis very difficult.

Case presentation: We here report the case of a 73-year-old man with Warthin's tumour who was brought to our attention because of a swelling in the parotid region.

Conclusions: In this case with an atypical clinical presentation, the intra-operative examination of a frozen section of the parotid mass allowed us to diagnose the malignant tumour correctly and consequently undertake its radical excision.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
An axial computed tomography scan with contrast medium showing a 3.4 × 2.5 cm mass on the right parotid gland (arrows).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Left panel (enlargement 10×): undifferentiated carcinoma with poorly squamous differentiation (bottom right) very near to a typical Warthin's tumour (upper left). The arrows indicate the transition zone from a benign to malignant neoplasm. Right panel (enlargement 40×): detail of the malignant area. Hematoxylin and eosin stains.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Upper panels, hematoxylin and eosin staining. Panel (a) shows a low resolution (5 ×) image of the oncocytic transition from typical papillae (asterisk) and a hyperplastic-dysplastic state (cross) to malignant transformation (circle). Panel (b) shows a 10× enlargement of the undifferentiated carcinoma with a few atypical mitoses (arrows). Lower panels, immunohistochemistry anti-cytokeratin staining: panel (c) shows a 10× enlargement of the undifferentiated carcinoma immunoreactive to cytokeratin, and panel (d) a detail (40×) of a very atypical cell with cytoplasmic anti-cytokeratin immunoreactivity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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