Lymphoepithelial cysts of salivary glands in HIV-infected patients: clinico-pathological and immunohistochemical features.

The parotidectomy specimens of 3 HIV-infected patients with lymphoepithelial cysts (CLL) have been used to study, with an immunohistochemical method, the expression of the following antigens in histopathological sections: Cytokeratins, CD3, CD20, CD35, CD68, MAC387, Kappa and Lambda light chains. The purpose of the study was to ascertain if CLL of salivary glands parallel the immunophenotype of extrasalivary systemic lymphadenopathy (LAS). The results of this study show that the epithelial lining of CLL does not derive from preexisting ducts and that the immunophenotype of CLL very closely resembles that of LAS. These features seem to suggest that CLL and LAS are tightly related diseases and that probably surgery is not the elective treatment for this lesion.