Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas involving the parotid gland

Ten patients with lymphomas involving the parotid gland were studied. There were five males and five females. Their median age was 64 years. There were three cases of stage I disease, two stage II and five stage IV. The histology was small lymphocytic type in four of the five stage IV patients and two of them were associated with Sjögren's syndrome. The other stage IV patient had a diffuse small non-cleaved cell lymphoma. A different pattern of the histology was observed in the five stage I/II patients. They all had an intermediate grade histology and were not associated with Sjögren's syndrome. It was possible that at least some of the patients in the latter group might have their lymphomas arising from the lymph nodes within the gland rather than in the salivary gland parenchyma.