Macrocystic secretory carcinoma arising from the buccal minor salivary gland clinically mimicking a mucocele: A case report

Secretory carcinoma (SC) is an uncommon salivary gland tumor that has been recently conceptualized. The present report describes a case of SC that was diagnosed as a mucocele on preoperative examination. A 46-year-old man presented to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Saiseikai Senri Hospital (Suita-shi, Japan) with a main complaint of swelling of the right buccal mucosa. A mobile, elastic, hard mass was found beneath the right normal-appearing buccal mucosa. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-defined, internally homogeneous high-signal area with a maximum diameter of 18 mm. Based on the clinical diagnosis of mucocele, the buccal lesion was excised. Histopathological, immunohistochemical and fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses revealed the cystic lesion to be a macrocystic SC of a minor salivary gland. SC may have a mucocele-like appearance on magnetic resonance imaging. Even if a non-neoplastic lesion is suspected, the possibility of a malignant lesion such as SC must be considered for salivary gland disease.