Polymorphous low grade adenocarcinoma: Review and case report

polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma is a rare, malignant salivary gland tumor, which is found almost exclusively in minor salivary glands. it is more frequent in the age range from 30 to 70, with a clear female predilection in a 2:1 ratio. it is usually located in the hard or soft palate, although it may be found in the rest of the oral cavity too. it is rare in major salivary glands. in general it has good prognosis, with recurrence rates in the range of 17% - 24%. although rare, metastasis to regional lymph nodes may occur in 9% of the cases. this report describes the case of a patient that consulted at the military odontological center (central odontológica del ejército) due to an esthetic alteration of her dental prosthesis, which had been made 8 years before. the patient was sent to the maxillofacial surgery service, where the intraoral examination showed a big mass compromising the hard palate and the alveolar ridge. during examination, a dent in her prosthesis was found to correspond to the tumor mass; it was therefore concluded that the tumor had at least an eight-year-old evolution. an incisional biopsy was carried out, and once the polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma diagnosis had been stated, the patient was sent to the head and neck surgery service of the military hospital, where the lesion was treated by wide surgical excision followed by radiation therapy.