Abstract
Background: Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma is a rare salivery gland tumor that manifests a low grade of malignancy. We report a case of epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the parotid gland.
Case: A 65-year-old man was diagnosed with a tumor of the left parotid gland based on the X-ray computed tomography (CT) findings, and the tumor was surgically resected. Imprint smears revealed denuded large cells containing fine chromatin and prominent nucleoli, and an epithelial cluster composed of small cells and mucous globules.
Histological examination showed that the tumor was composed of a biphasic cell population consisting of cytokeratin-positive ductal cells and α-SMA-and S-100 protein-positive myoepithelial cells, and revealed small mucous globules and perineural invasion. Based on these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as an epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma.
Conclusion: To make an accurate diagnosis, it is important to be aware that epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma is composed of a biphasic cell population, namely, of ductal cells and myoepithelial cells, and this carcinoma from needs to be differentiated adenoid cystic carcinoma due to mucous globules.
