Secretory Carcinoma of the Parotid: Making the Correct Diagnosis of a Rare Salivary Gland Carcinoma When Molecular Biology Testing Is Not Available
Table 1
Clinicopathological characteristics of secretory carcinoma.
Average age of presentation
47 years
Sex
Equal distribution or a slight male predominance (1.5:1), depending on the series
Most frequent location
Parotid glands, without lateral predominance
Clinical presentation
Progressively growing painless mass Erythema and ulceration of the overlying skin are not usual Deep plane fixation is variable
Macroscopic characteristics
A firm mass with a rubbery consistency to the touch The cut surface is grayish-white and may present small cystic spaces with yellowish secretions
Microscopic characteristics
Eosinophilic cell proliferation forming lobules separated by thin fibrous septa and showing microcystic, tubular, papillary, or solid patterns and abundant PAS- and mucicarmine-positive secretion Cells having uniform oval nuclei with loose chromatin and a single prominent central nucleolus
Immunohistochemistry
S-100 protein, mammaglobin, and vimentin positive DOG-1, p63, and calponin negative
Molecular alterations
Characteristic t(12;15) (p13;q25) translocation with ETV6-NTRK3 gene fusion The ETV6-RET and ETV6-MET gene fusion have also been described in some cases
