Abstract
A 69 year-old female complained of left nasal bleeding. A tumor had arisen from the left nasal septums, and had obstructed the left nasal cavity. The tumor was removed with endoscopic surgery, and the pathological diagnosis was a pleomorphic adenoma. The cellularity of this tumor was richer than the salivary glands. A literature review revealed 70 cases, including the present case, of the pleomorphic adenoma arising from the nasal cavity in Japan. However, few immunohistochemical studies on this type of tumor have been reported. On our immunohistochemical examination, the solid area was immunoreactive for keratin, actin, vimentin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). The luminal cells in the tubulo-ductal structure were immuno-positive for keratin, carcinoembryonic antigen and epithelial membrane antigen, whereas the outer cells in this area were immuno-positive for actin. The myxoid area was immunoreactive for keratin, vimentin, GFAP and 5-100 protein, and the chondroid area was immuno-positive for keratin, actin, vimentin and S-100 protein. These results are somewhat different from those reported for pleomorphic adenomas in the salivary glands. The variable immunohistochemical nature of pleomorphic adenomas in the nasal cavity may reflect the variety of biological behaviours of this tumor.
