Philippine E-Journals

Carcinosarcoma expleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland with no history of long-standing or recurrent pleomorphic adenoma – a case report

Francia Victoria A. De Los Reyes | Socorro Cruz-Yañez | Maria Josefa DL. Mesina

 

Abstract:

Carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma of the salivary gland is an extremely rare tumor of the major and minor salivary glands that is composed of a mixture of both carcinomatous and sarcomatous elements with an identifiable benign epithelial and mesenchymal tumor counterpart. This report describes a rare case of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma involving the left parotid gland in a 61-year-old female with no history of a long-standing pleomorphic adenoma, nor a recurrent pleomorphic adenoma, and describes its morphology and important immunohistochemistry findings. Carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma contains features of the two tumors under malignant mixed tumors, which are carcinosarcoma and carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. Immunohistochemistry studies were done to document the epithelial and mesenchymal areas from both the malignant and benign sections of the tumor and to classify the carcinoma and sarcoma component, consisting of adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified for the carcinoma component, and myxoid chondrosarcoma and mesenchymal chondrosarcoma for the sarcoma component. The paucity of documented cases of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma in prior scientific publications requires reporting cases such as this. Furthermore, the report provides an insight into the more complex molecular and structural changes that manifest as cancer behavior in the tumors of the salivary gland. The case contributes to the fund of knowledge for diagnosis and improvement of quality of care.