Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma: A Demographic and Histopathological Profile

Abstract

Background: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant tumor of salivary glands, with a variable prevalence (9.5%-25.6% in Pakistan) and clinicopathological presentation. The objective of this study was to find out the frequency and clinicopathological presentation of mucoepidermoid carcinoma at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi Pakistan.
Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi between June 2016 to September 2017. All the malignant salivary gland tumors fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for MEC were included and the frequency of mucoepidermoid carcinoma was calculated. Age, gender, histopathological grading and anatomical site of tumor were also evaluated.
Results: A total of 30 patients of mucoepidermoid carcinomas, 23 (76.66%) males and 7 (23.33%) females, with a mean age of 44.9±19.2 years and age range of 6 to 88 years were reported. Regarding anatomical site, majority of the patients (73.3%) had tumor in the parotid gland, 13.3% in submandibular gland and 13.3% had tumor in palate, retromolar area and posterior one third of the tongue. According to histopathological grading, 26.6% MEC were high-grade, 26.6 % intermediate-grade and 36.6% were low-grade tumors.
Conclusions: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma was more common in males, in the third decade with parotid gland as the most common site for this tumor. On histopathology, low grade MEC on Auclair et al. grading had the highest frequency in our study cohort.