Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2015 Aug;7(Suppl 2):S779-81.
doi: 10.4103/0975-7406.163560.

Myoepithelioma

Ramasamy Sundararajan Karthik  1 , Jambai Sampathkumar Sivakumar  2 , Ramanujam Cholan  3 , Shanmugapriya  4 , Veerakesari Sundara Rajan  5 , Murugesan Senthil Moorthy  6 , A Yamunadevi  7 , B Vidula Karthik  8
Affiliations
Case Reports

Myoepithelioma

Ramasamy Sundararajan Karthik et al. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Myoepithelioma is a benign salivary gland tumor in the head and neck region, accounting for 1-1.5% of all glandular tumors. The diagnosis is rendered histopathologically, and it includes the proliferation of myoepithelial cells, without chondroid or myxochondroid stroma and ductal components (up to 5% of ductal component is acceptable). In our case report, this lesion has occurred in a 46-year-old female patient, and presented as well defined, nodular growth on the right posterior palatal region. Bony erosion and invasion were observed radiographically, and the lesion was excised surgically, with 1-2 cm of clear margin. The microscopic features included proliferating tumor sheets, composed of bland looking spindle and plasmacytoid shaped myoepithelial cells, and few cells showed clear cytoplasm, which were confirmed immunohistochemically as myoepithelial cells. Thus, the final diagnosis of benign myoepithelioma was rendered and no recurrence had been reported so far in the regular follow-up.

Keywords: Benign salivary gland lesion; myoepithelial cells; myoepithelioma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Intraoral photograph revealing the tumor mass
Figure 2
Figure 2
Computerized topography - coronal view showing tumor extension and bony erosion
Figure 3
Figure 3
Surgical specimen, after resection
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histopathological picture showing myoepithelial cells with few cells showing clear cytoplasm
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Barnes L, Appel BN, Perez H, El-Attar AM. Myoepithelioma of the head and neck: Case report and review. J Surg Oncol. 1985;28:21–8. - PubMed
    1. Kawashima Y, Kobayashi D, Ishikawa N, Kishimoto S. A case of myoepithelioma arising in an accessory parotid gland. J Laryngol Otol. 2002;116:474–6. - PubMed
    1. Sciubba JJ, Brannon RB. Myoepithelioma of salivary glands: Report of 23 cases. Cancer. 1982;49:562–72. - PubMed
    1. Morinière S, Robier A, Machet MC, Beutter P, Lescanne E. Massive infra-clinic invasion of the facial nerve by a myoepithelial carcinoma of the parotid. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2003;67:663–7. - PubMed
    1. Sheldon WH. So-called mixed tumors of the salivary glands. Arch Pathol. 1943;35:1–20.

Publication types