CASE REPORT Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Base of the Tongue: MR Imaging Findings

SUMMARY: Clear cell carcinoma of the base of the tongue is a rare minor salivary gland neoplasm, and to our knowledge, the MR imaging appearance of this entity has not been described. We present the MR imaging findings in such a case and review the differential diagnosis for tongue base masses in an adult. Clear cell carcinoma (CCC) (also known as clear cell adeno-carcinoma and hyalinizing clear cell carcinoma[HCCC]) is one of the rarest tumors of the minor salivary glands and infrequently occurs at the base of the tongue.1 It is classified as a low-grade epithelial neoplasm and has a female predomi-nance. To our knowledge, the MR imaging appearance of this entity has not been described. We report a case of a patholog-ically proved CCC of the base of the tongue in a patient pre-senting with progressive dysphagia. Case Report A 47-year-old woman presented to her primary care physician with a 5-month history of episodic swallowing difficulties, a sore throat, an