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Review
. 2010 Feb 2:2:4.
doi: 10.1186/1758-3284-2-4.

Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the tongue base: a case for the case-report and review of the literature

Peter Peters  1 , Costa Repanos, James Earnshaw, Patrick Stark, Bryan Burmeister, Lloyd McGuire, Susanne Jeavons, William B Coman A M
Affiliations
Review

Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the tongue base: a case for the case-report and review of the literature

Peter Peters et al. Head Neck Oncol. .

Abstract

A 60 year old lady was referred to the Princess Alexandra Hospital (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) tertiary Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Unit from a peripheral hospital for investigation and management of a tumour at the base of the tongue. Biopsy of the tumour revealed it to be an epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the base of the tongue. This is an extremely rare tumour in this location with only 2 other case reports in the world literature: the patients were treated with chemo-radiotherapy and surgery respectively. Our patient was made aware of the world literature and was able to make a fully informed decision on her choice of treatment modality and was treated with radiotherapy. Increasingly journals are limiting publication of case reports to "world firsts" only. We present a case where such a policy would have denied patient choice and possibly led to detrimental treatment.We review the world literature of tongue base epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the tongue.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Extent of limited tongue protrusion due to tumour invasion of tongue muscles.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Close up of the tongue, with the patient protruding tongue maximally.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Axial T2 Fat saturated MRI representing mass invading right base of tongue extending across the midline involving the right faucial tonsil. Mass shows immediate T2 signal enhancement with bright focus within.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Sagittal T1MRI, sagittal view, mass located at the base of the tongue.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Axial intermediate T1 Fat saturated MRI, post gadolinium on lesion on right base of tongue. Lesion has irregular enhancement following gadolinium
Figure 6
Figure 6
Intraoperative views of the mass at the base of the tongue.
Figure 7
Figure 7
AE1/AE3 Immunohistochemistry stain of epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma.
Figure 8
Figure 8
p63 Immunohistochemistry stain of epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma in the base of the tongue.
Figure 9
Figure 9
CK5/6 Immunohistochemistry stain of epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma, biopsy taken from mass at base of tongue.
Figure 10
Figure 10
SMA stain, Immunohistochemistry stain from mass at the base of tongue in a 60 year old female patient.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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