Primary cutaneous mucoepidermoid carcinoma infiltrating the parotid gland

A. Minni, R. Roukos, A. De Carlo, G. Di Tillo, G. Illuminati, P. Gallo

Department of Sensory Organs, Department of Surgery Francesco Durante, and Department of Pathology; Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. antonio.minni@uniroma1.it

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• Oncology

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) of the skin is an extremely rare neoplasm but is common in the major and minor salivary glands accounting of approximately 30% of all malignant tumors arising from these glands. Cutaneous involvement should be carefully assessed to exclude the possibility of metastases from distant sites.

We report an 81 year-old man presenting a primary cutaneous mucoepidermoid carcinoma infiltrating his left parotid gland. Excision of the affected skin and a total parotidectomy with supraomohyoid neck dissection (level I-III) was performed followed by radiotherapy. No relapse after 2 years follow up has been observed.

Since the primary cutaneous mucoepidermoid carcinoma is an aggressive neoplasm that frequently develops metastases it is important to distinguish it from primary MEC originating from the salivary glands for better management and suitable therapeutic decisions.

Published on: 2012/10/17

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