BACKGROUND: Carcinosarcoma of the salivary gland is an extremely rare tumor composed of carcinomatous and sarcomatoid components. This report describes the cytological and pathological findings of a case of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma arising in the right parotid gland. CASE: A 47-year-old female visited a hospital with swelling of the right parotid region, slight pain and facial palsy. Fine-needle aspiration smears showed both clustered epithelium-like cells and singly scattered cells in a necrotic background. The cells, especially the latter, exhibited significant cellular pleomorphism and had irregularly shaped nuclei. Myxoid stroma-like cell clusters without cellular atypism were also seen. The right parotid gland was resected, and the tumor tissue was histologically diagnosed as carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. CONCLUSION: The cytological findings of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma have been reported in very few cases. In the present case, various components, including the presence of atypical epithelium-like cell clusters and singly scattered atypical cells with stromal components on cytological specimens, led to consideration of the diagnosis of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma.
BACKGROUND:Carcinosarcoma of the salivary gland is an extremely rare tumor composed of carcinomatous and sarcomatoid components. This report describes the cytological and pathological findings of a case of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma arising in the right parotid gland. CASE: A 47-year-old female visited a hospital with swelling of the right parotid region, slight pain and facial palsy. Fine-needle aspiration smears showed both clustered epithelium-like cells and singly scattered cells in a necrotic background. The cells, especially the latter, exhibited significant cellular pleomorphism and had irregularly shaped nuclei. Myxoid stroma-like cell clusters without cellular atypism were also seen. The right parotid gland was resected, and the tumor tissue was histologically diagnosed as carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma. CONCLUSION: The cytological findings of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma have been reported in very few cases. In the present case, various components, including the presence of atypical epithelium-like cell clusters and singly scattered atypical cells with stromal components on cytological specimens, led to consideration of the diagnosis of carcinosarcoma ex pleomorphic adenoma.