Renal cell carcinoma presenting as a primary parotid gland tumor

A 62-year-old Caucasian man presented with a slow-growing 3 by 3 cm. mass in the left preauricular region. The pathologist's report on the surgical specimen favored a diagnosis of acinic cell carcinoma but recommended evaluation of the patient for possible metastatic renal cell carcinoma. A subsequent intravenous pyelogram and arteriogram revealed the presence of a mass in the right kidney. The lesion proved to be a renal cell carcinoma which was microscopically indistinguishable from the parotid tumor.