Immunohistochemical expression of podoplanin as a myoepithelial cell marker in pleomorphic adenoma

Purpose: Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is the most common benign salivary gland tumor with salivary gland excision as the treatment of choice; however, recurrences after parotidectomy have been reported. The current study is aimed at evaluating podoplanin expression in PA as a myoepithelial (ME) cell marker and its role in estimating the prognosis and outcome of the tumors by correlating it with various clinical and histological parameters.

Materials and methods: A total of 10 paraffin-embedded specimens of histologically diagnosed PA with clinical records of the patients were retrieved and the slides were then stained using hematoxylin and eosin staining and were then immunohistochemically stained with podoplanin.

Results: The study revealed the specificity of podoplanin as a differential marker for ME cells.

Conclusion: Although the study revealed the specificity of podoplanin as a differential marker for ME cells, additional markers to overcome the limitations of podoplanin which will predict the biologic behavior (biologic behavior of the tumor) the tumor with respect to parameters such as age, gender and site of the tumor are required. Furthermore, a larger sample size is required to validate the findings in our data.