Background: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant salivary gland tumour in paediatric population, accounting for 16% of all cases. Patients affected by a previous solid or leukaemic neoplasm during their childhood may develop a second different tumour during the follow-up. In this setting, salivary gland MEC is relatively frequent, accounting for 6% of the second neoplasms in paediatric patients. Consequently, the occurrence of salivary gland nodules in paediatric patients with a previous neoplasm should be considered an event with a high risk of malignancy that poses peculiar diagnostic challenges. Summary: This study was designed to define clinical and instrumental findings and morphological features of MEC on fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) samples in paediatric patients with and without a previous neoplasm. Five patients under 19 years are included in this series. FNAC was performed in all patients on a parotid nodule. We have identified 2 groups of patients: (a) 2 cases with previous history of malignancy (acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and Hodgkin lymphoma) and (b) 3 cases without previous malignant neoplasms. In all cases, a final diagnosis of MEC was rendered. Key Messages: MEC may occur as a second malignancy in paediatric patients. FNAC is certainly a valid and accurate diagnostic tool for this type of neoplasm, even in the paediatric age, allowing the correct management of the patients.
Acta Cytologica

中文翻译：

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细针穿刺细胞学检查是小儿黏液表皮样癌为继发性肿瘤的有效诊断工具。

背景：粘液表皮样癌（MEC）是小儿最常见的唾液腺恶性肿瘤，占所有病例的16％。在儿童时期受过先前的实体瘤或白血病肿瘤影响的患者在随访期间可能会发展出另一种不同的肿瘤。在这种情况下，唾液腺MEC相对较常见，占小儿患者第二个肿瘤的6％。因此，在先前有肿瘤的小儿患者中唾液腺结节的发生应被认为是发生恶性肿瘤的高风险事件，这给诊断带来了特殊的挑战。概要：这项研究旨在定义有无肿瘤的小儿患者细针穿刺细胞学检查（FNAC）样品的MEC的临床和仪器发现以及形态特征。该系列包括五名19岁以下的患者。所有患者均以腮腺结节进行FNAC。我们确定了两组患者：（a）2例既往有恶性肿瘤病史（急性淋巴细胞白血病和霍奇金淋巴瘤），以及（b）3例不曾有恶性肿瘤。在所有情况下，都做出了MEC的最终诊断。关键信息： MEC可能是小儿患者的第二恶性肿瘤。FNAC无疑是这种类型肿瘤的有效且准确的诊断工具，即使在小儿年龄，也可以对患者进行正确的治疗。
细胞学学报