Fine-needle aspiration cytology of an oncocytic carcinoma of the submandibular gland.

An oncocytic carcinoma of the submandibular gland diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration is reported. Cytologically, the tumor cells occurred singly, in three-dimensional clusters and in multilayered sheets. The cells had round-to-oval, centrally or eccentrically located nuclei with fine chromatin and prominent nucleoli. Many cells contained abundant granular cytoplasm and well-defined cell borders; however, several stripped nuclei with prominent nucleoli were also noted in the background. Follow-up histologic examination showed tumor cells arising from right submandibular gland and metastasizing to six of 14 cervical lymph nodes. Ultrastructural study demonstrated tumor cells packed with mitochondria in the cytoplasm. The patient was alive with no evidence of disease 6 months after the surgery.