Macrocystic secretory carcinoma arising from the buccal minor salivary gland clinically mimicking a mucocele: A case report

Secretory carcinoma (SC) is an uncommon salivary gland tumor that has been recently conceptualized. The present report describes a case of SC that was diagnosed as a mucocele on preoperative examination. A 46-year-old man presented to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Saiseikai Senri Hospital (Suita-shi, Japan) with a main complaint of swelling of the right buccal mucosa. A mobile, elastic, hard mass was found beneath the right normal-appearing buccal mucosa. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-defined, internally homogeneous high-signal area with a maximum diameter of 18 mm. Based on the clinical diagnosis of mucocele, the buccal lesion was excised. Histopathological, immunohistochemical and fluorescence <i>in situ</i> hybridization analyses revealed the cystic lesion to be a macrocystic SC of a minor salivary gland. SC may have a mucocele-like appearance on magnetic resonance imaging. Even if a non-neoplastic lesion is suspected, the possibility of a malignant lesion such as SC must be considered for salivary gland disease.