Basal cell adenocarcinoma of the salivary gland - Report of a case with morphology on fine needle aspiration cytology

BACKGROUND: Basal cell adenocarcinoma of the parotid is rare and prone to r ecur. CASE: A 54-year-old woman had a history of a facial mass 12 years earlier t hat had been excised and was diagnosed as low, grade adenocarcinoma of flit , parotid. Over the years, the patient had multiple local and lymph node re currences. Histology of the excised local recurrent tumor showed basal cell adenocarcinoma, and FNAC of a separate recurrent nodule was performed. The aspirate showed moderate cellularity of basaloid cells with mildly pleomor phic nuclei, small nucleoli and occasional mitotic figures. The cells were mostly single, but some formed clusters with a rosettelike pattern of tumor cells surrounding central eosinophilic globules. A second, less prominent population of smaller cells with dark-staining nuclei was also noted. The d ifferential diagnosis included adenoid cystic carcinoma, polymorphous low g rade adenocarcinoma, and basal cell and pleomorphic adenoma. CONCLUSION: The cytologic features of basal cell adenocarcinoma are not dis tinctive, but the presence of two cell populations with moderate pleomorphi sm and a rosettelike pattern with central, eosinophilic globules may assist with its differentiation from other salivary gland neoplasms.