Metastatic renal cell carcinoma presenting as a parotid tumor: a case report.

Renal cell carcinoma rarely metastasize to the parotid gland; only 16 cases have been reported in the literature. We describe a 68-year-old man presenting with a 1-year history of a painless swelling on the right parotid gland. A partial parotidectomy was performed. The histological examination revealed a clear cell neoplasm, and the tumour cells were periodic acid-Schiff positive and diastase labile. The differential diagnosis involved the primary clear cell tumors of the parotid gland and metastasis of malignant extrasalivary neoplasms. Histochemical end immunohistochemical studies for vimentin, keratins and CEA are consistent with a metastatic renal cell carcinoma.