A clinicopathological study of neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions of salivary glands

Introduction: Salivary glands are the site of origin of non neoplastic and neoplastic lesions. The histopathology of these are more various and diverse.Salivary gland tumours affect the parotid gland in more than 70% of cases, submandibular gland 5-10%, sublingual gland 1% and minor glands 5-15%. Aim of the study: To clinicopathologically study the various neoplastic and non neoplastic lesions of salivary glands. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the department of pathology at Mahatma Gandhi Mission Hospital, Navi Mumbai during the period from October 2008 to October 2014, a total of 11,197 specimens were received for histopathological examinations, of which 50 specimens were of salivary gland lesions. Results: Chronic sialadenitis was the commonest (53.8%) non neoplastic lesion, Pleomorphic adenoma (64.8%) was the commonest benign tumor, Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (13.5%) was the most common malignant tumor of the salivary glands. Parotid was the commonest site accounting for 67.5% of all tumors followed by minor salivary glands (29.7%) and submandibular gland (2.7%). A female preponderance was seen in almost all tumors except Warthin’s tumor with peak age incidence of 2nd to 6th decade. Conclusion: From the present study, it is evident that histopathological examination of salivary gland lesions is the most important modality in establishing the final diagnosis in predicting prognosis and typing of non neoplastic and neoplastic lesions of salivary glands.