A case of metachronous bilateral secretory carcinoma

Abstract

Secretory carcinoma (SC) was first recognized as a distinct salivary malignancy in 2010. In the nine years since its recognition, there have been multiple reports of SC of the major and minor salivary glands, as well one case of tongue base involvement. Here we present the first reported case of bilateral SC. The first tumor, diagnosed before the recognition of SC, was classified as mucoepidermoid carcinoma. After the contralateral parotid tumor was diagnosed as SC in 2016, the two histologies were compared, and the mucoepidermoid carcinoma was reclassified as SC. In this report, we describe our patient’s clinical course and review the SC literature, with a focus on pathologic diagnosis and clinical prognosis.