[Malignant pleomorphic adenoma of salivary gland with subtype of the malignant component classified as non-specific adenocarcinoma: a clinicopathologic study of 65 cases].

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the clinicopathologic features of salivary malignant pleomorphic adenoma (MPA) (the subtype of the malignant component was classified as non-specific adenocarcinoma).

METHODS

The clinical and pathological characteristics of 115 salivary gland tumors histologically diagnosed as MPA were analyzed.

RESULTS

In all the 65 MPA cases, there were 58 male and 7 female patients, and the mean age was 57 years (from 23 to 83). Sixty-one tumors were located in major salivary glands, and 4 in minor. Histologically the malignant components of 39 tumors were high-grade, 14 intermediate-grade, and 12 low-grade. Thirty-seven tumors were invasive carcinoma, 13 minimally invasive, and 15 non-invasive. The high-grade tumors had positive correlation with the invasive carcinomas (P < 0.05). The invasive carcinomas had positive correlation with TNM clinical stage (P < 0.05). The invasive carcinoma and the high-grade tumor had correlation with cervical lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Non-specific adenocarcinoma are the most common malignant subtype in MPA. The invasive and the high-grade types are more likely to metastasize to cervical lymph node.