Author(s): SandhyaTamgadge, AvinashTamgadge, Treville Pereira and Simona Naik
Carcinoma ex-pleomorphic adenoma (CXPA) is a rare, aggressive, poorly understood malignancy of the salivary gland. The clinical findings typical of this tumor include history of a slow growing, ulcerated, painless mass that enlarges rapidly. Histologically, CXPA is characterized by the presence of carcinomatous transformation in pleomorphic adenoma which includes abnormal nuclear changes with mitoses, dystrophic calcification, vascular or neural invasion or both by lesional cells along with local and distant metastasis. Immunohistochemical staining in the carcinoma areas revealed positive reaction for epithelial membrane antigen and p63 protein but negative for vimentin. We report a case of a CXPA in the hard palate and discuss its clinical and histopathological findings.
