Non-Warthin's tumor oncocytic lesions

Abstract

Oncocytes differ from other epithelial cells of salivary tissues in their excessive proliferation of mitochondria, in turn leading to a hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the chondriome. Oncocytic transformation is not a degenerative process, but rather a redifferentiation of the cells as they attempt to increase their output of high-energy phosphate. As oncocytes divide, their pathologic metabolic activity and mitochondrial phenotype are passed on to their progeny, and these cells produce salivary lesions that range from focal oncocytic metaplasia and hyperplasias to benign and malignant neoplasms--oncocytomas and oncocytic carcinomas.