Cytologic characteristics and histomorphologic correlations of 21 salivary duct carcinomas

Fine-needle samplings (FNS) of 21 salivary duct carcinomas, histologically correlated, including 19 primaries, one local recurrence, and one lymph node metastasis from 19 patients, are reported. Cytologic diagnosis of high-grade adenocarcinoma was established in 15 (71%). Five (24%) cases were misclassified as high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinomas and one (5%) as squamous-cell carcinoma. The histologic evaluation in all cases showed cytomorphologic features resembling mammary duct carcinoma with marked cytonuclear atypia and occasional oncocytic appearance. Our cytohistologic correlations indicate that irregular clusters of high-grade adenocarcinoma cells with necrotic background and oncocytic features suggest a cytologic diagnosis of either primary salivary duct carcinoma or metastatic mammary carcinoma.