Acinic Cell Carcinoma:

Abstract

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology is commonly used to evaluate salivary gland lesions and is considered to be highly accurate in the diagnosis of salivary gland tumors. Acinic cell carcinoma is an uncommon malignant neoplasm, mostly arising in the parotid gland. Aspirates from these tumors can be diagnostically challenging. The lesions that have to be considered in the differential diagnosis include a wide variety of nonneoplastic as well as neoplastic conditions. Attention to subtle cytologic details of these tumor aspirates, and familiarity with the spectrum of cytomorphologic features and potential diagnostic pitfalls will in most cases provide enough information to reach a correct FNA diagnosis.