Basal cell adenocarcinoma of the salivary gland--a case report

Basal cell adenocarcinoma of the salivary gland is a very rare disease entity as the malignant counterpart of basal cell adenoma. On the basis of morphologic pattern, basal cell adenoma can be divided into four subtypes; trabecular, solid, tubular, and dermal analogue (membranous). We report a case of basal cell adenocarcinoma in the left parotid gland of a 33-year-old woman. Light microscopically, the tumor cells were composed of relatively uniform, monotonous basaloid cells. The tumor cell nests commonly had peripheral palisadings. The main growth pattern of the tumor cells was tubulotrabecular. However, other portions were similar to dermal analogue monomorphic adenoma and showed cribriform patterns reminiscent of adenoid cystic carcinoma. The tumor had frequent perineural invasions and an infiltrative margin. On immunohistochemistry, only scattered numbers of tumor cells showed irregular positive reaction for S-100 protein, suggesting a few myoepithelial cell components of the tumor compared with most tumor cells derived from epithelial cells.