Back to the roots of Warthin's tumor of the parotid gland

Warthin Tumor of the Parotid Gland: The History of an Eponym

The eponymous history of Warthin tumor (WT) is a fascinating issue in the field of salivary gland pathology. The late decades of the nineteenth century and the turn of the century saw notable German and French contributions on WT. Especially, the seminal 1910 paper of Albrecht and Arzt of Vienna is the foundation for the current knowledge of WT. It is generally believed that prior to this pioneering study, Hildebrand of Göttingen accurately described the lesion of WT in 1895. However, the historical origins of WT appear to be unsettled, and only a few German pathologists and surgeons are aware that dating back to 1885, the first recognizable reference to WT was that by the renowned German-Swiss pathologist Zahn, whose name is eponymously associated with "Zahn infarct" and "lines of Zahn". Two noted French surgeons with a major interest in pathology, Albarrán in 1885 and Lecéne in 1908, did not contribute to the topic. Since the 1950s, a mostly American group of pathologists and surgeons gradually adopted the term WT to replace the very accurate histologic descriptor "papillary cystadenoma lymphomatosum" coined by Warthin himself in 1929. It is our opinion that from a historical viewpoint, there is no particular reason why this tumor should have been named WT.

Concurrent Warthin tumor and Kimura disease: a case report

BACKGROUND

Warthin tumor (WT) is a common benign salivary tumor of the parotid gland. Clinically, it occurs in men in their fifth to seventh decades who typically smoke cigarettes. WTs have been reported with different head and neck neoplasms and other salivary gland tumors within the same or another salivary gland. Kimura disease (KD) is a rare chronic inflammatory disease with unknown etiology affecting young to middle-aged Asian men. KD presents as an asymptomatic nodule in the head and neck area, with regional lymphadenopathy and salivary gland involvement.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 64-year-old Arabic man presented with a 10-year history of an asymptomatic swelling of the left face. Computed tomography showed a well-defined, multicystic mass with heterogeneous enhancement. The resected mass was composed of two distinct components. There was a well-demarcated proliferation of papillary and cystic oncocytic epithelium with lymphoid stroma, consistent with WT. Some areas exhibited sclerotic fibrosis, with multiple lymphoid follicles showing folliculolysis, follicular hyperplasia, and eosinophilic infiltrate. The patient's immunoglobulin E level serum was elevated, confirming a coexisting KD. The patient underwent a left superficial parotidectomy, with no recurrence at a 30-month follow-up.

CONCLUSION

This report describes the first concurrent case of WT and KD in the parotid gland.

Low Molecular Weight Cytokeratin Immunohistochemistry Reveals That Most Salivary Gland Warthin Tumors and Lymphadenomas Arise in Intraparotid Lymph Nodes

The nature of the lymphoid stromal component in Warthin tumor and lymphadenoma of the parotid gland has been a controversial topic in salivary gland pathology for decades. Two theories exist: first, that these tumors arise from salivary gland inclusions within intraparotid lymph nodes; and second, that they arise within salivary gland parenchyma and induce tumor-associated lymphoid proliferation (TALP). A recent study demonstrated that low molecular weight cytokeratin is effective in distinguishing salivary gland tumors within lymph nodes from those inducing TALP via identification of extrafollicular reticulum cells, which are only found in true lymph nodes. Twenty-one Warthin tumors and 4 lymphadenomas were retrieved from the archives of the Department of Pathology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Cam5.2 immunohistochemistry was performed on each case and independently evaluated by two pathologists. Extrafollicular reticulum cells were identified by Cam5.2 immunostaining in 21 of 21 Warthin tumors (100%), and 3 of 4 lymphadenomas (75%). Extrafollicular reticulum cells were consistently localized to the perisinusoidal and paracortical areas of the lesions studied. Extrafollicular reticulum cells were identified via low molecular weight cytokeratin Cam5.2 immunohistochemistry in all of the Warthin tumors and most of the lymphadenomas evaluated. This finding strongly supports the notion that these most if not all of these tumors arise within intraparotid lymph nodes, presumably from salivary gland inclusions entrapped during embryonic development.

Salivary Intraductal Carcinoma Arising within Intraparotid Lymph Node: A Report of 4 Cases with Identification of a Novel STRN-ALK Fusion

Intraductal carcinoma (IDC) is a rare salivary gland tumor that is considered analogous to ductal carcinoma in-situ of the breast, demonstrating a complex neoplastic epithelial proliferation surrounded by a continuous layer of presumed non-neoplastic myoepithelial cells. It is subcategorized into intercalated duct, apocrine, and hybrid subtypes based on morphologic and immunohistochemical features, with frequent NCOA4-RET and TRIM27-RET fusions, respectively, seen in intercalated duct and hybrid tumors. However, as an expanding clinicopathologic spectrum of IDC has been documented, controversy has emerged as to whether this tumor type is best defined by its intraductal growth pattern or distinctive molecular and immunophenotypic differentiation. Here, we further explore the nature of IDC by evaluating four cases that arose within intraparotid lymph nodes. These intercalated-duct phenotype tumors with diffuse S100 protein expression demonstrated a crowded and complex epithelial proliferation arranged in cystic, cribriform, and micropapillary architecture, surrounded by an intact myoepithelial cell layer, and were completely intranodal. Of two tumors with tissue available for molecular analysis, one demonstrated a NCOA4-RET fusion and one harbored a STRN-ALK fusion that is novel to IDC. Not only does the intranodal presence of IDC present a challenging differential diagnosis, but the complex nature of this proliferation within lymph node tissue raises questions as to whether the myoepithelial component of IDC is actually non-neoplastic in nature. Furthermore, identification of a STRN-ALK fusion expands the genetic spectrum of IDC and adds to evidence of an emerging role for ALK in salivary gland tumors. Further attention to the nature of the myoepithelial cells and documentation of alternate fusion events in IDC may inform continued discussion about its appropriate classification.

Change in Warthin's tumor incidence: a 20-year joinpoint trend analysis

PURPOSE

The incidence of Warthin's tumor (WT) has increased worldwide. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the incidence of WT in our hospital, which provides health care for an extremely large population.

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 573 patients, comprising 345 males and 228 females, who all experienced parotid tumor for the past 20 years. Patients with WT that were operated in the last 20 years were evaluated according to the number of patients per year to determine the annual WT increase trend.

RESULTS

In the distribution of WT over the years of surgery, the ratio of WT to all tumors irregularly changed. Furthermore, the total number of parotidectomies per year increased in time. We investigated whether WT had any increasing trend over the years. The annual percentage change (APC) of WT was calculated, and according to the segmented regression analysis, the APC was insignificant (APC = 4.3, 95% CI = - 3.6-12.9, P = 0.300).

CONCLUSION

The incidence of WT has increased across the world. However, in our study, no significant APC was observed according to the segmented regression analysis.

Aberrant Expression of Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (GAPDH) in Warthin Tumors

The Warthin tumor represents the second most frequent benign tumor of the parotid gland and is characterized by the presence of oncocytes rich in structurally and functionally altered mitochondria. Next to its role in metabolism, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is also implicated in cellular mitophagy. Immunohistochemistry was carried out on Warthin tumor and normal control (parotid gland with striated ducts) tissues, using anti-GAPDH specific antibodies followed by digital image analysis. Laser capture microdissection was used to isolate the oncocytic tumor cell and normal control striated duct compartments for RNA extraction and qPCR. Warthin tumor oncocytes exhibited a markedly spotted GAPDH staining pattern exhibiting cells with cytoplasmic and nuclear, only nuclear or none GAPDH staining. A significantly lower (p < 0.0001) total GAPDH signal was detected in Warthin tumor oncocytes. Similarly, significantly lower (p < 0.005) GAPDH mRNA levels were seen in oncocytes compared with normal ductal cells. To exclude the possibility of this GAPDH staining pattern being a general feature of oncocytic neoplasms of different organs, we tested a cohort of renal oncocytoma and oncocytic chromophobe carcinoma; none showed this type of staining. The observed progressive GAPDH loss in Warthin tumor oncocytes could be implicated in the pathogenesis of Warthin tumors.