Rhabdomyosarcoma presenting as a parotid gland mass in pediatric patients: fine-needle aspiration biopsy findings

The head and neck region is one of the most common locations of rhabdomyosarcoma. Salivary gland involvement is usually secondary to advanced disease, and presentation as a primary salivary gland tumor is very rare.

Three cases of rhabdomyosarcoma presenting as parotid masses, in 2 boys (ages 3 and 7 years) and a girl (age 5 years), were retrieved from the files of 2 institutions.

The three patients presented with parotid gland enlargement. Clinically, the enlargements appeared to be inflammatory, and they were treated unsuccessfully with antibiotics. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) was performed on all three patients. The cytologic features varied from one case to another; one case had features of a small round cell tumor, another was composed of a monomorphic population of spindle cells in a metachromatic stroma, and the third case was composed mostly of spindle cells with moderate cellular pleomorphism. Immunohistochemical studies performed in two of the cases confirmed the diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma, and ultrastructural studies were confirmatory in the other case. The patients are alive; 2 of them have had no evidence of disease after 6 and 9 years of follow-up, and the third, the most recent patient, has just finished adjuvant chemotherapy.

With the increased use of FNAB for the evaluation of salivary gland masses in children, the authors believe that it is important to recognize the occurrence of rhabdomyosarcoma in this location. Immunohistochemical studies have proved helpful in differentiating rhabdomyosarcoma from other parotid gland tumors and can be readily done on cytologic preparations.