Canalicular adenoma: not a basal cell adenoma

The evidence that canalicular adenomas and basal cell adenomas are separate entities is presented in this article. The clinical features were studied in a series of 13 previously unreported salivary gland tumors (5 canalicular adenomas and 8 basal cell adenomas) and 99 examples derived from the literature (68 canalicular adenomas and 31 basal cell adenomas). Representative tumors from the new cases and from 66 referred cases were studied by histologic, histochemical, and electron microscopic techniques. The two tumors differ significantly with respect to the age range of affected patients, site of predilection, and morphologic and histochemical features.