Pleomorphic adenoma of the submandibular gland: clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features of 60 cases in Brazil.

The submandibular gland is involved in only 5% to 10% of the salivary gland tumors, and pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is the most common tumor affecting it. This study describes the clinicopathological features and immunohistochemical expression of Ki-67 and p53 in 60 cases of submandibular salivary gland PAs. Most of the patients were in the third and fifth decades of life and 37 (62%) of them were women. Tumor sizes varied from 1 to 10 cm and the mean time between symptom onset and treatment was 52 months. Only 1 patient experienced local recurrence, 3 years after treatment. Histologically, most tumors consisted chiefly in a chondromyxoid stroma. Stroma-rich PAs were larger than stroma-poor ones (P<.02). All PAs were found negative for Ki-67 and p53. These results show that PAs of the submandibular gland are histologically similar to PAs of other salivary glands, and that they have a low proliferative rate and a good prognosis.