Mucoepidermoid carcinoma arising in a lymphoepithelial cyst--report of a case and review of the literature on branchiogenic carcinoma.
A 59-year-old Japanese man who had recently noticed a gradual enlargement in a nodule located in the left anterior part of his neck was admitted for surgical treatment. The histopathological features of the resected tumor were consistent with a typical lymphoepithelial cyst, however, the inner surface epithelium of the cyst showed histological transition to mucoepidermoid carcinoma, which was partially invading the cyst wall. Despite clinical efforts in a systemic search, no primary lesions which could have metastasized were found. The patient hasn't shown any evidence of recurrence since his tumor resection over 2 years ago. Besides this rare case report, a review of the English literature reveals 22 cases of possible branchiogenic carcinoma over the last 10 years, including 21 cases whose histological features were of squamous cell carcinoma and 1 whose histological features revealed mucoepidermoid carcinoma. The present case is thus only the second proven case of low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma arising within a branchiogenic cyst.
Misonou
J
J
First Department of Pathology, Hokkaido University, School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Iwabuchi
K
K
Aizawa
M
M
Murakami
S
S
D001935:Branchioma / Q000473:pathology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary