Schwannoma arising from the sublingual gland

Sublingual gland tumors, especially mesenchymal tumors, are extremely rare. We describe the first reported case of schwannoma arising from the sublingual gland with details of the histopathologic and immunohistochemical features. A 70-year-old woman developed a painless swelling on the floor of the mouth. The excised material was sublingual gland tissue with an ovoid, grayish-yellow solid tumorous mass at the cut surface. The tumor was composed of proliferated spindle-shaped tumor cells exhibiting palisading patterns. In the center of the tumor, a small salivary gland component was recognized. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were strongly positive for S-100 protein but negative for neurofilament protein. The Ki-67 labeling index was 4.58. The clear presence of a remnant sublingual gland lobule in the present tumor provided convincing evidence that it was a schwannoma arising from the sublingual gland and thus the first of its type to be reported.