Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the palate mimicking a pyogenic granuloma in a 30-year-old woman.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common salivary gland adenocarcinoma, more frequently affecting female patients in the fifth decade of life. When MEC arises in the minor salivary glands, the palate is the primary site. This case report describes an MEC on the palate of a 30-year-old woman. The lesion was initially treated as a pyogenic granuloma, but the final diagnosis based on histopathology was low-grade MEC. The patient was referred for cancer treatment, and no recurrence was observed during 3 years of follow-up. Some malignant tumors can mimic nonneoplastic reactive lesions clinically, which highlights the importance of biopsy and proper microscopic analysis of the resulting specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]