Squamous carcinoma arising in a parotid Warthin's tumour

Warthin's tumour is the second most common benign neoplasm to affect the salivary glands. It virtually affects the sole parotid gland. A sudden increase in a tumour's size is usually due to a malignant transformation of the tumour. The transformation of the lymphoid stroma into malignant lymphoma is relatively common, while an epithelial malignancy is extremely rare. In this paper, the authors present a case of squamous cell carcinoma arising in Warthin's tumour. The patient underwent enucleoresection of the tumour. Intraoperative frozen section revealed the presence of a cystic component associated with the squamous cell carcinoma areas. In consideration of the result of the intraoperative consultation, the surgeons decided to enlarge the previous resection by removal of a 30×25 mm cuff from the surrounding parotid tissue. Close follow-up was carried out and 12 months after surgery there was no evidence of recurrence or metastatic neoplasm.