Clinicopathological study of salivary gland adenocarcinomas

Abstract

A total of 27 cases of salivary gland adenocarcinomas were studied from clinicopathological view point. Adenocarcinomas of the salivary gland were microscopically subclassified into 3 groups according to Luna's classification: Salivary duct carcinomas histologically resembled the ductal carcinoma of the breast, displayed nuclear atypia and had poorer prognosis than the other subclasses of salivary gland adenocarcinomas. Terminal duct carcinomas lacked in nuclear atypia and displayed a variety of growth patterns, including papillary, cribriform, tubular, and solid. Some terminal duct carcinomas showed prominent mucin-production. Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinomas had clear cytoplasms and exuberant glycogen. In addition to the clinicopathological study, nuclear areas of the tumor cells were measured in each of the 27 salivary gland adenocarcinomas, and mean nuclear area (MMA) and standard deviation (SD) were calculated. The group with more than 50 um2 of MNA had poorer prognosis than the group with 50 um2 or less of MNA, and the group with more than 13 um2 of SD had poorer prognosis than the group with 13 um2 or less of SD. Finally, immunohistochemical study was performed against various markers including keratin, epithelial membrane antigen, lactoferrin, S-100 protein, CEA, etc., using the Avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. Lactoferrin was present in most of the salivary duct carcinomas, on the other hand, S-100 protein was detected in all of the five cases of the terminal duct carcinoma investigated. But immunohistochemical study is not especially useful in distinguishing subclasses of salivary gland adenocarcinomas or investigating the origin of tumor cells. © 1989, The Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Society of Japan, Inc. All rights reserved.