Yorita et al.

Journal of Medical Case Reports (2019) 13:12

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-018-1941-3

CASE REPORT Open Access

Infarcted Warthin tumor with

mucoepidermoid carcinoma-like
metaplasia: a case report and review of the
literature
Kenji Yorita1*, Hideyuki Nakagawa2, Katsushi Miyazaki2, Junya Fukuda3, Satoshi Ito4 and Makoto Kosai5

Abstract
Background: Warthin tumor is a common, benign, painless salivary gland neoplasm. Rarely, Warthin tumors show
large areas of squamous metaplasia; such Warthin tumors are called metaplastic or infarcted Warthin tumors because they
are occasionally accompanied with tumor necrosis. The histological distinction between mucoepidermoid carcinomas
and the metaplastic portions of Warthin tumors can be challenging; without a genetic study, mucoepidermoid
carcinomas can be misdiagnosed as metaplastic Warthin tumors. We report a case of infarcted Warthin tumor partly
showing mucoepidermoid carcinoma-like epithelial metaplasia. Only two cases of infarcted Warthin tumor similar to our
case have been reported.
Case presentation: A 69-year-old Japanese man presented with a right parotid tumor. He had noticed the swelling on
his right buccal region 1 year previously; the lesion had rapidly enlarged, with associated pain, 1 month previously. A
radiological examination revealed a mass in the tail of the right parotid gland. Superficial parotidectomy was performed.
On histological examination, the mass showed typical focal features of Warthin tumor; other areas showed coagulation
necrosis of the tumor. These areas were surrounded by non-oncocytic epithelium comprising squamous and mucinous
epithelial cells. Although cellular atypia of the non-oncocytic epithelium was not observed, a mixture of squamous and
mucinous cells and lack of abundant lymphoid tissue mimicked low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Based on the
results of fluorescence in situ hybridization, MAML2 gene rearrangement was not present in the typical portions of Warthin
tumor and the mucoepidermoid carcinoma-like lesion. Therefore, a metaplastic or infarcted Warthin tumor was diagnosed.
Our patient was disease-free 8 months after surgery.
Conclusions: Clinicians need to know that pain is a clinical symptom of infarcted/metaplastic Warthin tumor. Pathologists
should be aware that a metaplastic Warthin tumor can mimic a low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Our case showed
a mucoepidermoid carcinoma-like lesion that was confined near the area of tumor necrosis, and neither cytological atypia
nor apparent invasive growth was present. These findings appeared to be histological clues of a metaplastic Warthin tumor
rather than a mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Careful clinicopathological evaluation as well as genetic studies are needed to
clarify the distinction between mucoepidermoid carcinoma and metaplastic portions of Warthin tumors.
Keywords: Warthin tumor, Metaplasia, Mucoepidermoid carcinoma, Necrotizing sialometaplasia

* Correspondence: kenjiyorita@gmail.com
1
Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Japanese Red Cross Kochi Hospital,
2-13-51, Shinhonmachi, Kochi-city, Kochi 780-8562, Japan
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article

© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Yorita et al. Journal of Medical Case Reports (2019) 13:12 Page 2 of 6

Background living with his wife and had been smoking cigarettes for
Warthin tumor (WT) is a common, benign, salivary gland 30 years, but quit 9 years ago. He had consumed one beer
neoplasm; it consists of a bilayered oncocytic epithelium per week for over 40 years. His family and environmental
lining a ductal, papillary, and cystic arrangement in an history were unremarkable, and his employment history
abundant lymphoid stroma. WTs mainly occur in the was not available. At admission, his blood pressure was
parotid gland and affect males in their sixth to seventh 164/86 mmHg, but his other vital signs were normal:
decade of life [1]. WTs can show squamous metaplasia of temperature, 36.4 °C; pulse, 80/minute; respiratory rate,
the tumor epithelium; Seifert et al. have reported meta- 12/minute with O2 saturation of 100% at room air. The
plastic WTs with large areas of squamous metaplasia [2]. physical and neurological examinations were unremarkable
Metaplastic WTs are rare, and their incidence ranges from except for tenderness in the region of his right parotid
0% (0/278 cases) [3] to 7.6% (21/275 cases) [2]. Metaplas- gland. The results of complete blood count, serological
tic WTs can also be called infarcted WTs because they are test, and dipstick urine test were within normal limits.
occasionally accompanied by extensive necrosis, fibrosis, A computed tomographic examination showed a mass
and inflammation [4]. Metaplastic WTs may develop of 5-cm diameter located in the superficial lobe of his
mucinous epithelial metaplasia [5, 6], which can patho- right parotid gland (Fig. 1a–b), and the mass had solid
logically mimic a low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma and cystic components based on contrast imaging (Fig. 1c).
(MEC). WTs rarely coexist with malignant epithelial neo- Serum levels of squamous cell carcinoma antigen and
plasms, such as the squamous cell carcinoma (the most soluble interleukin-2 receptor were within reference
common [7]) and MEC; 27 cases of MEC in or coexisting limits. WT was clinically suspected based on the location
with WT have been described [7–21]. Pathological differ- in the tail of the right parotid gland, cystic morphology,
entiation of a metaplastic WT from a MEC can be difficult gender, and age; however, a malignant salivary gland
because some metaplastic WTs have been reclassified as tumor could not be excluded. Superficial parotidectomy
MECs based on clinicopathological and genetic studies was performed for diagnosis and treatment. On gross
[17, 22]. Thus, the use of a pathological diagnosis only examination, the formalin-fixed mass was solid, and the
has limitations in distinguishing metaplastic WTs from cut surface of the tumor had a grayish appearance (Fig. 2a).
MECs. Most MECs are genetically characterized by a No fluid content was observed. A whole-mount prepar-
t(11;19)(q21;p13) translocation and a CRTC1-MAML2 ation of the mass was performed. On histological examin-
gene fusion or a t(11;15)(q21;q26) translocation and a ation, the mass showed typical focal features of WT, that
CRTC3-MAML2 gene fusion [23]. Typical WTs and is tubulocystic growth of bilayered, columnar, and oncocy-
metaplastic WTs are considered to have no translocations tic epithelium associated with abundant lymphoid stroma
seen in MECs [22, 24–26]; however, a few opposite results (Fig. 2b). In the other portion of the tumor, approximately
have been previously reported [27, 28]. Fluorescence in situ 60% of it, there were eosinophilic materials suggesting
hybridization (FISH) to detect MAML2 gene rearrange- coagulation necrosis of the tumor; the materials were
ment appears to serve as one of the useful tools to clarify surrounded by a non-oncocytic epithelium comprising
whether the metaplastic portions of WTs are different non-keratinizing squamous cells and mucinous cells
from the MECs or whether they could be the origin of (Fig. 2c–h). The non-oncocytic epithelium was associated
MECs. The present case is of an infarcted WT with MEC-- with a fibrous stroma or granulation tissue, but not with
like metaplasia, and it appears to be the third reported abundant lymphoid stroma (Fig. 2e). Granulomatous
case [5, 6]. We performed a pathological and genetic inflammation involving foreign body-type giant cells
evaluation to make the distinction between tumor was also seen. The non-oncocytic epithelium showed
metaplasia and MEC. neither distinct cellular atypia nor apparent invasive
growth, but the fibrosis adjacent to the non-oncocytic
Case presentation epithelium showed a desmoplastic reaction. Thus, low-
A 69-year-old Japanese man (height, 158 cm; weight, 72 kg; grade MEC could not be excluded. On immunohisto-
body mass index, 28.8 kg/m2) was referred to our hospital chemical examination, the squamoid cells in the MEC-like
because a right parotid gland tumor had rapidly enlarged lesions were positive for cytokeratin 5 (CK5) and p63, and
and developed spontaneous pain 1 month previously. He mucinous cells were negative for these markers (Fig. 2h).
had noticed the swelling on the buccal region 1 year previ- The necrotic materials were diffusely positive for epithelial
ously. He had a medical history of hypertension and type 2 markers (AE1/AE3 and cytokeratin 7) and negative for
diabetes mellitus; he had also undergone surgical resection CK5 and p63. The Ki-67 positive ratios in the WT and
for gastric lipoma (15 years ago) and urothelial carcinoma MEC-like components were similar; both components’
(7 years ago). He was receiving oral medication for hyper- ratios were less than 5%. No diffuse immunoreactivity
tension and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Medical follow-up of p53 was observed. Results of FISH showed MAML2
revealed no recurrence of urothelial carcinoma. He was gene rearrangements were not present in the typical
Yorita et al. Journal of Medical Case Reports (2019) 13:12 Page 3 of 6

Fig. 1 Radiographic images of the tumor. a–b Axial non-enhanced computed tomography images in soft tissue window (a) and bone window
(b) show a nodular lesion (arrow) in the right parotid gland. c Contrast-enhanced computed tomography image shows the cystic and solid
appearance of the tumor (arrow). Bars represent 5 cm

portions of WT and the MEC-like lesion (Fig. 2i). There- tissue can develop squamous and mucinous metaplasia.
fore, we diagnosed this tumor as a metaplastic or infarcted Thus, it appears that similar to normal salivary gland
WT. Our patient was discharged without sequelae and tissues, WTs can develop metaplasia due to ischemia.
was disease-free 8 months after the surgery. WTs showing both squamous and mucinous metapla-
sia may be rare because Rotellini et al. reported that the
Discussion incidence of such cases was 0.2% among cases of WTs
We have described a 69-year-old Japanese man with a WT (1/444 cases) [28]. However, Rotellini et al. [28] selected
showing squamous and mucinous metaplasia and large metaplastic WTs that had significant areas of metaplasia,
areas of tumor necrosis. Our case was probably similar to and Seifert et al. reported that WTs with focal, not dif-
a case of infarcted WT described by Eveson and Cawson fuse, areas of both squamous and mucinous metaplasia
[4]. The patient’s age and gender in our case were typical were observed in 22% of WTs (48/217 cases) [2]. Thus,
for WT; however, the symptom was unusual because a WTs requiring the exclusion of a diagnosis of a MEC
slowly growing painless mass is typical for WT. The tumor may be not be infrequent; however, published cases
in the present case increased in size and developed pain similar to our case are rare. Only two cases of infarcted
within a short time, which mimicked a malignant tumor. WT with MEC-like metaplasia have been reported, but
Infarcted WTs tend to be more associated with pain than they lacked a genetic study and a sufficient description
WTs are; it has been reported that pain occurs in 7% of of the histological differentiation between MEC and
WTs and 25% of infarcted WTs [4]. A clinician should be MEC-like metaplasia [5, 6]. Infarcted WTs can show
aware that an aggressive clinical course can be encoun- cytological atypia of the metaplastic epithelium and
tered in a case of infarcted WT. accompanying fibrosis and inflammatory infiltrate [4–6],
Metaplastic change and infarction in WT appears to and the metaplastic portions can mimic the desmoplastic
be closely related because squamous metaplasia has been tumor reaction as was seen in our case. In the present
observed in 35% of 20 cases of infarcted WT [4], and case, the MEC-like lesion was confined adjacent to the
infarcted WTs have been observed in 70% of 21 cases tumor necrosis; such metaplasia was not observed in the
of WTs with large areas of squamous metaplasia [2]. tumor away from the necrosis. WTs may be more likely
Causes of metaplasia in WTs include ischemia and/or when MEC-like lesions are confined near the necrotic
infarction, irradiation, and biopsy [2, 4–6, 29]. In our areas in the WTs and the MEC-lesions do not form
case, biopsy and irradiation had not been performed; mass lesions. Further case studies are needed to identify
infarction was possible although the cause of the infarc- useful histological clues to differentiate MEC-like WT
tion remained unknown. A similar phenomenon, called from MEC.
necrotizing sialometaplasia, has also been observed in However, pathological diagnosis of a metaplastic WT
normal salivary gland tissue; ischemic salivary gland can be challenging. Ishibashi et al. showed that five cases
Yorita et al. Journal of Medical Case Reports (2019) 13:12 Page 4 of 6

Fig. 2 Macroscopic and microscopic findings. a The macroscopic appearance of the cut surfaces of the tumor fixed in formalin. Solid and cystic
appearance is shown. b–f Microscopic appearance of hematoxylin-and-eosin stained sections of the tumor. The tumor contains typical features of
Warthin tumor (b). The tumor shows focal areas of eosinophilic change (c–e, indicated by * in c and e), which suggests coagulation necrosis of
the tumor. The periphery of the necrotic area consisted of a non-oncocytic epithelium comprising mucinous and squamous cells (e, f, low and
high magnification). Alcian blue staining reveals mucinous cells (g). The squamous cells are diffusely positive for cytokeratin 5, and mucinous cells
are negative for this marker (h). In f, g, and h, mucinous cells are indicated by an arrow and squamous cells are indicated by #. i Fluorescence in
situ hybridization does not show MAML2 gene rearrangements in the metaplastic component. An inset in i shows a nucleus without MAML2
rearrangement. Bars in a and c represent 3 cm; bars in b, d–h represent 100 μm

of WT showing diffuse metaplasia that were extracted were accompanied by squamous or mucinous meta-
from among cases of WT were reclassified as cases of plasia, [8, 11–14, 16, 19], and six of the 14 cases were
MEC (Warthin-like MEC) because all these cases were confirmed or suspected to have MECs that had trans-
positive for CRTC1-MAML2 gene fusion; the cases formed from the metaplastic portions of WT [11, 16, 19].
comprised mainly female patients and lacked the typical Rotellini et al. reported that two of eight cases of meta-
bilayered oncocytic epithelium typical of WT [22]. Thus, a plastic WT showed a MAML2 gene rearrangement in
low-grade MEC associated with abundant tumor-associated the squamous cells, but not in the mucinous cells and
lymphoid stroma can be misdiagnosed as a metaplastic oncocytic cells [28]. However, 28 cases of metaplastic
WT. Ishibashi et al. also reported that a Warthin-like MEC WT did not show MAML2 gene rearrangement [22,
and a metaplastic WT are difficult to distinguish, and the 25, 26]. Thus, the squamous metaplasia in WTs does
most reliable finding in distinguishing WT from Warthin- not appear to typically show MAML2 gene rearrange-
like MEC is the presence of bilayered oncocytic epithelium ment. Careful clinicopathological evaluation as well as
[22]. In addition, the metaplasia of WT may show a precur- genetic studies are needed to confirm whether the
sor or early phase of MEC. In 27 previously reported cases metaplastic portion of a WT can be the origin or early
of MEC in or coexisting with WT [7–21],14 cases phase of a MEC.
Yorita et al. Journal of Medical Case Reports (2019) 13:12 Page 5 of 6

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