Bulbar conjunctival metastasis from mucoepidermoid carcinoma of parotid\u2014a case report and review of literature

Rajshri Yadav,Azhar J Battoo,Altaf G Haji,Abdul W Mir

doi:10.1186/s12957-016-1077-0

Rajshri Yadav, Azhar J Battoo + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12957-016-1077-0

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Abstract

BackgroundMucoepidermoid carcinoma of salivary glands usually metastasizes to the lungs, liver, bone, brain, and skin. We report a rare case of distant metastasis of high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the parotid to the ipsilateral bulbar conjunctiva of the eye.Case presentationSixty-year-old male of Kashmiri origin presented to our tertiary care referral cancer institute with exophytic lesion of the left bulbar conjunctiva following his treatment for mucoepidermoid cancer of ipsilateral parotid gland, 9 months back. The lesion was biopsied and reported as high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Radiological imaging showed no other site of recurrence. The patient underwent orbital exenteration and final histopathological evaluation reported the lesion as mucoepidermoid carcinoma.ConclusionsDistal metastasis from mucoepidermoid carcinoma to bulbar conjunctiva is very rare and to the best of our knowledge has not been previously reported.

Highlights

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of salivary glands usually metastasizes to the lungs, liver, bone, brain, and skin
The incidence of distant metastasis seen in mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) of salivary glands is almost 13% [1]
We report here a rare case of isolated distal metastasis of MEC parotid to the bulbar conjunctiva of the ipsilateral eye

Summary

Introduction

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of salivary glands usually metastasizes to the lungs, liver, bone, brain, and skin. We report a rare case of distant metastasis of high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the parotid to the ipsilateral bulbar conjunctiva of the eye. Case presentation: Sixty-year-old male of Kashmiri origin presented to our tertiary care referral cancer institute with exophytic lesion of the left bulbar conjunctiva following his treatment for mucoepidermoid cancer of ipsilateral parotid gland, 9 months back. We report here a rare case of isolated distal metastasis of MEC parotid to the bulbar conjunctiva of the ipsilateral eye. The consent for publishing this case report was taken from the institute’s ethics committee—Sher-iKashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Ethics Committee. Such a case is unusual and, to our knowledge (following thorough search on PubMed and Google), has not been previously reported.

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