EPITHELIOID SARCOMA OF THE TONGUE

A case of epithelioid sarcoma in the tongue is reported. The patient, a 35 year old woman, presented with a nonulcerated painful lesion of t he tongue. Microscopically, the tumour was characterised by multiple c oalescent nodules with central geographic necrosis infiltrating the li ngual muscle. The tumour cells were epithelioid with abundant eosinoph ilic cytoplasm and atypical nuclei. Immunohistochemically, the tumour cells stained for vimentin, keratin, and epithelial membrane antigen. These morphological and immunohistochemical appearances led to the dia gnosis of epithelial sarcoma of the tongue. Seven years later, the pat ient died with metastatic dissemination to the scalp, lungs, and brain . No case of epithelioid sarcoma arising in the tongue has been descri bed previously.