Polymorphous adenocarcinoma of minor salivary gland: Case presentation and literature review.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA) is a rare neoplasm arising from minor salivary glands, representing approximately 3 % of head and neck tumors. The clinical presentation of PLGA is defined as a painless, slow-growing tumor, mostly occurring in the palate. We report a case of PLGA with a rare presentation. CASE PRESENTATION: A 76-year-old male, known case of hepatitis B, diabetes, and hypertension, presented to the emergency department complaining of spitting blood and dysphagia. Imaging showed a heterogeneous enlarged left tonsil with hyperemia of the mucosa, and air foci. Biopsy with excisional biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of PLGA. The patient underwent completion tonsillectomy and selective neck dissection which yielded tonsillar tissue with underlying PLGA, and reactive lymph nodes with no malignant tissue respectively, margins were negative for malignancy. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma is a rare lesion with clinical behavior resembling that of a benign neoplasm. Predominantly occurring in the oral cavity, especially on the hard palate, buccal mucosa, and retromolar region, with fewer cases in the upper lip. Occurrence in the nasopharynx and oropharynx is rare. PLGA presents as painless slow-growing masses, typically in females aged 50-60. Local excision with careful margin evaluation is the preferred treatment, with good prognosis compared to other carcinomas. CONCLUSION: PLGA is rare, with limited reported case from around the world. It is mostly seen in adults between their fifth and sixth decades with female predominance. PLGA is diagnosed using imaging, immunohistochemistry. Owing to the limited cases there is no standard approach to treating PLGA. However, most cases are managed with local excision and showed an excellent response in terms of tumor nonrecurrence.

Lymph node yield as a prognostic factor in clinically node negative oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prognostic significance of nodal yield in patients with clinically node-negative (cN0) oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). METHODS: This retrospective observational study included 40 patients with cN0 OCSCC who underwent treatment with at least 6 months of follow-up data from November 2012 to April 2020. We recorded the variables, including patient demographics, cancer site, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging, type of treatment, lymph node yield (LNY), histopathologic diagnosis, and recurrence. The recorded data were analyzed with descriptive and interferential statistics using specific tests. RESULTS: Our study cohort comprised of 27 males and 13 females with a mean age of 60.08+13.153 years. Tongue (55%) was the commonly affected site. Seventeen (42.5%) patients belonged to TNM stage II. The mean LNY in our study was 38.65±25.41 (range 7-98). Following surgery, 19 (47.5%) patients further received adjuvant therapies. Recurrence was reported only in 4 (10%) patients. There was no significant difference between LNY and recurrence rate (p=0.892). Factors including, age (p=0.121), gender (p=0.209), site (p=0.519), size of tumor (p=0.416) did not influence the LNY. CONCLUSION: There is no correlation between LNY and recurrence in cN0 OCSCC patients in our study. Meticulous neck dissection and thorough pathologic reporting prevents TNM under staging and improves the overall survival and prognosis.

Prevalence of Metastasis and Involvement of Level IV and V in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review.

The occurrence of occult metastases in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) to lower levels in the neck (levels IV and V) or development of skip metastases that bypass the upper neck levels (levels I to III) and go directly to level IV or V is common. This challenges the efficacy of conventional neck dissection approaches in the treatment of OSCC. Therefore, the decision to include lower levels cervical nodes during elective neck dissection of OSCC remains controversial. This systematic review was designed to assess the prevalence of level IV and/or V involvement or skip metastases in patients with the clinically negative neck (cN0) or positive (cN+) oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We searched for studies published between December 2000 and December 2020. Potentially relevant abstracts and full-text articles were screened, and data from the studies were extracted. Quality was rated using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) criteria. In total, 802 abstracts and 227 full-text articles were screened, and 32 studies were included in this analysis. The prevalence of metastasis ranged from 1.8% to 66.0%. The incidence for skip metastasis to level IV or V was low, reaching 8.5%. Evidence favored elective neck dissection, including levels I to III, in selected patients with OSCC and patients with cN0 or cN+ neck. The literature was non-conclusive on the recommendation for inclusion of lower levels.