Oral Health and Dental Management

Abstract

Cystadenocarcinoma Arising in the Oral Floor, A Case of Effective Use of Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology and Biopsy

Naomi Ishibashi-Kanno, Hiromichi Akizuki, Toru Yanagawa, Kenji Yamagata, Shogo Hasegawa, Hiroki Bukawa

Cystadenocarcinoma of the salivary glands is rare. We here report a case of a 46-yearold Japanese man who presented with a painless, slow-growing mass in the right anterior oral floor, first noticed 4 months prior to our examination. Intraoral examination revealed a soft, well-defined oval mass measuring 20×20 mm in diameter. A sample obtained by fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) had abundant atypical glandular cells, suggesting that the mass was malignant. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) findings revealed a low-grade carcinoma consistent with a papillary cystic tumor. A clinical diagnosis of salivary-gland tumor with a suspicion of low-grade carcinoma was made. The tumor was resected from the oral floor under general anesthesia. Histological examination revealed that the tumor was composed of small cystic lumens in a solid lobulated nodule arising from the minor salivary glands, with partial papillary proliferation in the cystic structures. The final diagnosis was cystadenocarcinoma of the oral floor. There was no evidence of recurrence or distant metastases at the 18-month follow-up. FNAC and FNAB allowed us to obtain a correct preoperative diagnosis, which helped us determine the best treatment and excision range for this patient. FNA is a useful, minimally invasive diagnostic tool for a possible malignancy involving the salivary glands