Nasopharyngeal mucoepidermoid carcinoma with mastermind-like transcriptional coactivator 2 translocation: A case report and comprehensive literature review of a rare entity

Abstract

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in salivary glands and is usually associated with mastermind-like transcriptional coactivator 2 (MAML2) rearrangement. Primary nasopharyngeal mucoepidermoid carcinoma is extremely rare, and MAML2 status was reported in only two studies. Herein, we present a 70-year-old male patient with incidentally found nasopharyngeal mucoepidermoid carcinoma. MAML2 translocation was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization test. Additionally, we conducted a comprehensive literature review and summarized the clinicopathological features of this rare condition. Nasopharyngeal mucoepidermoid carcinoma shows a similar mean age at diagnosis and gender ratio to those of mucoepidermoid carcinoma in salivary glands. More than half of the patients exhibit high histologic grade at the time of diagnosis. As MAML2 status is unreported in almost all published cases, further studies are needed to explore the incidence and prognostic value of MAML2 rearrangement in nasopharyngeal mucoepidermoid carcinoma.