Adenocarcinoma of Minor Salivary Gland Origin with Skeletal Metastasis in a Child

Abstract

Primary epithelial neoplasms of the salivary gland in children are uncommon but are well recognized and occur principally in the major salivary glands. The purpose of this report is to document our experience with an adenocarcinoma of the buccal submucosa (one of several sites of minor salivary gland tissue) that metastasized to multiple bones as the initial sites of distant disease after a local recurrence. The clinical history, imaging studies, and microscopic sections including immunoperoxidase studies were evaluated from the primary tumor, local recurrence, and a metastatic lesion from the femur. The histopathologic features and immunohistochemical phenotype of the adenocarcinoma in the buccal submucosa supported its salivary gland origin. This case of adenocarcinoma of the intraoral buccal tissues independent of the parotid gland in a 12-year-old female is an unusual clinical presentation of a salivary gland neoplasm in childhood, and its ability to metastasize to distant skeletal sites is also remarkable in terms of a primary salivary gland carcinoma regardless of age at diagnosis.