Expression of TIMP-1 and -2 in different growth patterns of adenoid cystic carcinoma

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the buccal mucosa: A case report and review of the literature

Adenoid cystic carcinomas are deceptive malignancies that show slow growth and local invasion with recurrences seen many years after diagnosis. Upto 50% of these tumors occur in the intraoral minor salivary glands usually in the hard palate. Buccal mucosal tumors are relatively rare. We determined the incidence of buccal mucosal adenoid cystic carcinoma by reviewing the number of reported cases in the literature. This is the first article to analyze the occurrence of adenoid cystic carcinomas in the buccal mucosa through a review of 41 articles. Our review revealed 178 buccal mucosal adenoid cystic carcinomas among a total of 2,280 reported cases. We present a case of adenoid cystic carcinoma occurring in the left buccal mucosa of a 45-year-old female.

Metallothionein immunostaining in adenoid cystic carcinomas of the salivary glands

Metallothionein (MT) is a protein that has been studied in several tumors as a prognostic factor and as a potential myoepithelial cell marker in breast cancer. The aims of this study were to assess the immunohistochemical staining of MT in adenoid cystic carcinomas of the salivary glands (ACC), and to analyze possible morphological and quantitative variations among the solid, cribriform, and tubular histological subtypes. MT was investigated in 15 cases of ACC using the immunohistochemical technique. All of the cases expressed the MT antigen. This expression was noteworthy in cells depicting myoepithelial differentiation. ACC with predominant tubular pattern presented a significantly lower mean index of MT immunopositivity than did solid or cribriform subtypes, while these two latter groups did not differ in terms of MT expression. Our results suggest that MT may be an important tool for immunolocalization of myoepithelial tumor cells in salivary gland neoplasms.