Misdiagnosis of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of Palate: A Case Report

Introduction: Neoplasms of the salivary glands are uncommon, accounting for approximately 3 to 5 percent of all head and neck tumors. Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare salivary gland malignancy with a poor survival rate because of a high rate of late local recurrence and distant metastasis.   Materials and Methods: This paper reports a misdiagnosis of palatal ACC via fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). A 27-year-old female with painful swelling in the right side of the palate underwent FNAC and was misdiagnosed with pleomorphic adenoma. During surgery, hemi-maxillectomy was performed due to the fragile consistency of the tissues. Result: The tumor was found to be ACC after histopathologic evaluations. Hence, the patient underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy postoperatively. Conclusion: Given specific limitations and diagnostic pitfalls, it seems that pre neural and pre vascular invasion of tumors as a sign of malignancy should be noticed