Salivary gland neoplasms: A clinicopathological study of 84 cases

Background: Accounting for less than 2% of all human neoplasms, salivary gland tumors are relatively uncommon and it comprises a morphologically diverse group of rare tumors. FNAC has been employed in pre-operative diagnosis of salivary gland tumor as essential diagnostic tool to diagnose swelling in major and some minor salivary glands. Superficial locations of salivary glands make them suitable for FNAC. Objectives: To find out the frequency of different types of salivary gland tumors in a hospital based samples and make clinicopathological correlation. Material and methods: FNAC of all 84 patients was done using 22 gauge needle and 10 ml syringe applying negative pressure, smears were either wet fixed or air dried and stained by Papanicolau and Giemsa stains respectively. Histopathological examination was done whenever available and was compared with FNAC diagnosis. Results: In this study, overall male predominance with male to female ratio was 1.4: 1. Maximum number of cases of salivary gland neoplasms occurs in 3rd decade of life. Incidence of malignant and benign parotid neoplasms was 32.14% and 67.86% respectively. Parotid was the most commonly affected salivary gland. Benign tumors were more common in parotid gland however, malignant tumor were more common in submandibular gland. Pleomorphic adenoma (60.71%) was most common benign tumor and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (22.02%) was the most common malignant tumor. Conclusion: FNAC is a simple quick inexpensive and minimally invasive technique to diagnose different types of salivary gland tumor. It could easily differentiate benign from malignant neoplasms and can be helpful for management of patient. Thus, FNAC can be recommended as first line of investigation in the diagnosis of salivary gland tumors.