A case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma seen in the left submandibular gland of a 47-year-old male is described.
Recurrence and distant metastasis were apparent about one month after the operation that included left radical neck dissection, resection of the left submandibular gland and dissection of the floor of the mouth. The patient died 4 months after the operation.
At autopsy, extensive metastasis in bones, lung, liver, kidneys, pancreas, brain and lymph nodes was observed.
Salivary gland scintigraphy with 67Ga-citrate, 99mTc-pertchnetate and 20M-chloride was performed preoperatively and an extensive up-take in the left submandibular tumor area was indicated with all of these radionucliedes.
Only 15 reports of the mucoepidermoid carcinomas in the submandibular gland have been found in a review of Japanese literature and 3 of them were histologically classified into the highly malignant (poorly differentiated) tumor.
