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Updated: Aug 10, 2026
Manipulating the Murine Lacrimal Gland
Published on: November 18, 2014
Pleomorphic adenoma arising in an accessory lacrimal gland of Wolfring
Ghassan A Alyahya1, Göran Stenman, Fredrik Persson
1Eye Pathology Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. gaja@eyepath.ku.dk
Purpose:
To describe a patient with pleomorphic adenoma arising in an accessory lacrimal gland of Wolfring in the lower lid and to illustrate the immunohistochemical and molecular cytogenetics.
Design:
Single interventional case report.
Methods:
A 62-year-old man presented with a 20-year history of a painless slowly growing mass at the temporal part of the right lower eyelid. Histological, immunohistochemical, and fluorescence in situ hybridization studies of the excised tumor were performed.
Results:
Histological evaluation showed many glandular elements embedded in a myxoid stroma. The tumor was situated beneath an area of a normal accessory lacrimal gland of Wolfring and in close association with normal meibomian glands. Myoepithelial tumor cells in the myxoid stroma reacted strongly with an antibody against glial fibrillary acidic protein, which did not bind to normal lacrimal gland tissue. Tumor cells with both epithelial and myoepithelial morphologies reacted positively for both pleomorphic adenoma gene-1 and high-mobility group A2 proteins. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed no evidence of clonal translocations or numerical abnormalities involving chromosome 8 or 12.
Conclusions:
Pleomorphic adenoma of the accessory lacrimal gland is an exceedingly rare tumor of the ocular adnexa. Glial fibrillary acidic protein seems to be a tumor-associated antigen. Genetically, this case of pleomorphic adenoma arising from an accessory lacrimal gland of Wolfring is identical with those originating from salivary glands.
