The buccal minor salivary glands as starting point for a metastasizing adenocarcinoma – report of a case

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With the 2005 WHO classification of salivary gland tumours and its increasingly recognized diagnostic entities, the frequency of adenocarcinoma (NOS) has decreased significantly.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p&g...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Schwarz Stephan, Mehrotra Ravi, Kleinheinz Johannes, Ettl Tobias, Reichert Torsten, Driemel Oliver
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2008-07-01
Series:Head & Face Medicine
Online Access:http://www.head-face-med.com/content/4/1/16
Description
Summary:<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With the 2005 WHO classification of salivary gland tumours and its increasingly recognized diagnostic entities, the frequency of adenocarcinoma (NOS) has decreased significantly.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>This paper describes a fast growing adenocarcinoma (NOS), originating from the minor salivary glands of the left buccal mucosa with a rapid onset of multiple local and distant metastases, especially in the lung. A lung primary was unlikely as the tumour was characterized by positivity for cytokeratin 20 and negativity for the thyroid transcription factor-1 protein (TTF-1) in immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A rare case of an adenocarcinoma (NOS) of the minor salivary glands with a rapid development and an unfavourable clinical course is reported. It shows that additional immunohistochemical analysis can decisively contribute to determine the site of the primary tumour in cases with unknown primary.</p>
ISSN:1746-160X