Oncocytic carcinoma

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Oncocytic carcinoma of the parotid gland.” (Onkologie. 2006 Sep;29(8-9):388-90). Authors are Caloglu M, Yurut-Caloglu V, Altaner S et al, from the Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey. Oncocytic carcinoma is a rare tumor of major salivary glands. Despite being described 5 decades ago, not much is known about these rare tumors. Histochemical or electron microscopic confirmation of the oncocytic nature of the tumor cell is needed for differential diagnosis. The main treatment modality is surgery with or without adjuvant radiotherapy. Malignant oncocytomas have the potential risk of developing distant metastases and demand long term follow-up after therapy. For an accurate approach in the management of patients, oncocytic adenocarcinoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of lesions of the parotid gland, most of which are benign. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.