Extranodal Marginal Zone Lymphoma of the Parotid Gland

Non Hodgkin lymphomas correspond to 25 % of all head and neck cancers. These rare tumors only include less than 5 % of malign tumors in parotid region. Differential diagnosis of these tumors cover many malign and benign tumors of the parotid gland. Definite diagnosis depends on sufficient tissue material of parotidectomy specimen. Treatment modality is surgical removal of the lesion with or without additional radiation and chemotherapy depending on the stage of the tumor. Prognosis is better than other forms of the B-cell lymphoma. We present a 54 year old woman who suffered from progressively and slowly growing mass on parotid region, without any inflammatory disease or chronic infection, diagnosed with mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the parotid gland. Parotid gland was totally excised by superficial parotidectomy and there is no recurrence after 5 years postoperative period.