The origin of a salivary gland tumour is attributed to cells at various levels of differentiation which present histologically as diverse tissues and cellular patterns. Mitochondria-rich, eosinophilic oncocytes are cells commonly encountered in salivary gland neoplasms. We report a case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) in the palate of a 43-year-old female that exhibited a prominent oncocytic component. While the parotid and submandibular glands have been reported as predominant sites for oncocytic MEC (OMEC), the palate and minor salivary glands are rare sites for occurrence. Also, most of the reported cases of OMEC have been histologically of low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma with large cystic spaces and good prognosis. In this article, we discuss the differential diagnosis and diagnostic workup of an MEC presenting with oncocytes.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common malignancy globally. The etiology of HNSCC is multifactorial, including cellular stress induced by a tobacco smoking, tobacco chewing excess alcohol consumption, and human papillomavirus infection. The induction of stress includes autophagy as one of the response pathways in maintaining homeostatic equilibrium. We evaluated the expression of autophagy‐related genes in HNSCC tissues from RNA sequencing datasets and identified 19 genes correlated with poor prognosis and 18 genes correlated with improved prognosis of HNSCC patients. Further analysis of independent gene expression datasets revealed that ATG12, HSP90AB1, and FKBP1A are overexpressed in HNSCC and correlate with poor prognosis, whereas the overexpression of ANXA1, FOS, and ULK3 correlates with improved prognosis. Using independent datasets, we also found that ATG12, HSP90AB1, and FKBP1A expression increased with an increase in the T‐stage of HNSCC. Among all the datasets analyzed, FKBP1A was overexpressed in HNSCC and was strongly associated with lymph node metastasis in multiple in silico datasets. In conclusion, our analysis indicates dynamic alterations in autophagy genes during HNSCC and warrants further investigation, specifically on FKBP1A and its role in tumor progression and metastasis.
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