Melanocytes in the human parotid gland.

A review of the literature yields about 20 reported cases of purportedly primary malignant melanoma of the parotid gland, but no convincing examples of pre-existent melanocytes in the salivary glands. The present paper reports the existence of melanocytes in the interlobular duct of the parotid gland observed during an autopsy case of a Japanese male. Melanocytes with long cytoplasmic processes were distributed in the basal and suprabasal layers of hyperplastic duct epithelium, and melanin granules were sparsely scattered in the duct epithelial cells. This is the first report of melanocytes in the human salivary gland.