SURGICAL TREATMENT IN A CASE OF MODERATELY DIFFERENTIATED MUCOEPIDERMOID CARCINOMA AFTER EXCISIONAL BIOPSY: CASE REPORT

Abstract

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant major and minor salivary gland neoplasm, with a predilection for the parotid gland, followed by the hard palate. A 45-year-old female patient presented to the maxillofacial outpatient clinic with a symptomatic nodular lesion on the hard palate that had first appeared 6 months earlier. The imaging exam showed an expansive growth in the region. The diagnostic hypothesis was hemangioma. Accordingly, an excisional biopsy was performed. Histomorphologic analysis showed lobular infiltration of mucous cells permeated by intermediate and epidermoid cells, in addition to intense vascular proliferation within the affected structures and margins. The diagnosis of MEC (moderately differentiated) was made. The patient was referred to the head and neck surgical service and the surgical margins were expanded. At 12-month follow-up, there was no recurrence. Hence, the case points to the importance of incisional biopsy in suspicious lesions to avoid possible loss of margins in surgical treatment. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant major and minor salivary gland neoplasm, with a predilection for the parotid gland, followed by the hard palate. A 45-year-old female patient presented to the maxillofacial outpatient clinic with a symptomatic nodular lesion on the hard palate that had first appeared 6 months earlier. The imaging exam showed an expansive growth in the region. The diagnostic hypothesis was hemangioma. Accordingly, an excisional biopsy was performed. Histomorphologic analysis showed lobular infiltration of mucous cells permeated by intermediate and epidermoid cells, in addition to intense vascular proliferation within the affected structures and margins. The diagnosis of MEC (moderately differentiated) was made. The patient was referred to the head and neck surgical service and the surgical margins were expanded. At 12-month follow-up, there was no recurrence. Hence, the case points to the importance of incisional biopsy in suspicious lesions to avoid possible loss of margins in surgical treatment.