Benign glandular inclusions in parotid nerve

Benign salivary ductular and acinar structures were demonstrated within an enlarged, disorderly intraparotid nerve in association with a mucoepidermoid carcinoma that did not, itself, manifest perineural invasion. Salivary gland can thus be added to the growing list of tissues in which "perineural invasion" by noncancerous epithelium has been observed. The proliferative features of the neural tissue in this case support the notion that neural elements may play an active role in the establishment of intimate neural-epithelial relationships. The mechanism for this phenomenon in the present case is postulated to be proliferation and ingrowth of the nerve tissue, possibly mediated by nerve growth factor or some related substance.