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Published on: October 13, 2023
Salivary gland secretory carcinoma presenting as a cervical soft tissue mass: a case report
Parisa Mokhles1, Alireza Sadeghipour2, Pegah Babaheidarian2
1Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Hemmat Highway, Tehran, Iran. Pa.mokhles@gmail.com.
Background:
Secretory carcinoma (SC) has been described as a distinct salivary gland tumor in the fourth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of head and neck tumors. SC is generally considered as a slow-growing low-grade malignant tumor, while several cases have been reported with high-grade features, and even metastases in the literature up until now. In this article, a soft tissue SC case is discussed with high-grade microscopic features and neural invasion. A review of the salivary gland SC cases with aggressive behavior is also debated.
Case Presentation:
A 65-year-old Caucasian man presented with a left neck mass for the past six months. The imaging studies demonstrated a very large cystic cervical mass (46 × 23 mm) with papillary projections in the anterolateral aspect of the left neck zone Vb. He underwent left radical neck dissection (level I-V) and was followed up for 12 months with the diagnosis of Secretory carcinoma.
Conclusion:
Although SC generally has a good outcome, multiple recurrences and unusual metastases may occur, which should be considered by either the pathologists or clinicians.
