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Accepted Article
Article type : Original Article
Ciro Dantas Soares1, Thayná Melo Lima Morais1, Roman Carlos2, Jacks Jorge 1, Oslei
Paes de Almeida1, Maria Goretti Freire de Carvalho3, Albina Messias Milani Altemani4
Corresponding Author:
This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has
not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process,
which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please
cite this article as doi: 10.1111/his.13664
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Department of Oral Diagnosis, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas
Disclose any potential conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Abstract
from the pilosebaceous unit. Although its occurrence is mostly common in periocular
glands, other anatomic regions of the head and neck may be affected, including major
parotid and submandibular glands. The mean age was 62.1 (31-90) years. Two patients
(20%) presented regional or distant metastasis to mandible and lungs. All cases were
positive for cytokeratins (AE1AE3 and CK-5), epithelial membrane antigen, and
adipophilin; negative for androgen receptor, Factor XIIIa, S-100, vimentin, and
perforin. MutL Homolog 1 (MLH1) and MutS Homolog 2 (MSH2) were expressed in
the nuclei of most tumour cells, and one case showed loss of MSH2 expression.
positive vessels) were higher in metastasis-associated cases. P63 expression was noticed
in the periphery of the tumour nests, in the basaloid cells, with a mean of 69.2% nuclear
positivity.
Introduction
The sebaceous glands are exocrine glands of the skin found in high number on
the face and scalp1. It is a holocrine gland that secretes “sebum” that helps protecting
the skin against dehydration. Recently, it has been recognized as a delivery system of
antioxidants and antimicrobial lipids, highlighting its immunological effects2. Other
tissues may contain ectopic sebaceous glands, such as the parotid, submandibular and
minor salivary glands3,4. In the oral mucosa, sebaceous glands are named “Fordyce
granules”5.
The sebaceous carcinoma (SC) is uncommon and most cutaneous cases occur in
the periocular region6. In the past, SCs were divided into two main groups: (a)
periocular SC, corresponding to 75% of the cases showing an aggressive clinical
behaviour; and (b) extraocular SC, corresponding to 25% of the cases, with less
aggressive behavior11. However, it was demonstrated that both groups of SC may
present aggressive behaviour and potential for regional and/or distant metastasis12,13.
Although SCs most commonly involve the head and neck, its occurrence in salivary
glands is particularly rare14.
Methods
This study was conducted in full accordance with the ethical principles of the
World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki, and study approval was obtained
from the University of Campinas Institutional Review Board.
Table 1 shows the antibodies, dilutions and antigen retrieval methods used in the
IHC studies. Briefly, 3-µm paraffin sections were deparaffinized and washed with
Phosphate-Buffered Saline (PBS), pH 7.4. The endogenous peroxidase blocking was
performed with a single 15-minute bath of 10% H2O2. The slides were incubated
overnight with the primary antibodies, then incubation was performed with the
ADVANCE HRP visualization system (DAKO, Carpinteria, CA, USA).
Diaminobenzidine chromogenic substrate (DAB; Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, Missouri,
USA) was used for IHC reactions. Finally, the slides were counterstained with Carazzi’s
haematoxylin for 3 minutes.
Selected slides were scanned into high-resolution images using the Aperio
ScanScope CS Slide Scanner (Aperio Technologies Inc, Vista, CA, USA). To determine
the microvessel density (MVD), a digital analysis using the Microvessel Analysis v1
algorithm (Aperio Technologies Inc) was performed, considering the total of CD34-
positive vessels. The final values of MVD were expressed as the number of positive
Results
Clinical features
Ten patients with salivary gland sebaceous adenocarcinoma were considered for
this study. Sebaceous adenocarcinomas occurred in 6 women and 4 men, with a
male:female ratio of 1:1.5 and mean age of 62.1 years (SD 15.2, range 31–90). Two
cases (20%) presented distant metastasis. Eight cases (80%) were in the parotid gland
and two cases (20%) in the submandibular gland. One female patient was diagnosed
with submandibular gland sebaceous adenocarcinoma and three months later, an ovary
cancer disseminated to peritoneum was detected, clinically characterizing the Muir-
Torre Syndrome.
Regarding the treatment, the two tumours of the submandibular gland were
treated with gland resection. Four parotid tumours were removed surgically with
chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Neck dissection was performed in 3 patients, 2
received postoperative radiotherapy, and 4 patients were treated by adjuvant
chemotherapy. One patient was considered inoperable.
Clinical follow-up data were available in 7 out of the 10 cases (70%, 4 women
and 3 men; follow-up information on 3 patients was unavailable. One patient out of the
initial (10%) lives to date with no evidence of recurrent or metastatic disease in the
follow-up period of the last 2 years; 2 patients live to date with recurrent and metastatic
disease (20%), and 4 died due to disseminated cancer (40%). The clinical data of the
sebaceous adenocarcinomas patients are summarized in Table 2.
Immunohistochemical findings
All cases were diffusely positive for CK-5 and EMA (Fig. 2A), mainly in the
well-differentiated areas. CK-7 was positive in areas of ductal differentiation, while
CK-14 was found in the basaloid cells, surrounding the clear epithelial nests.
Expression of P63 was predominantly observed in the nuclei of immature sebocytes at
nests’ periphery, with positivity index ranging from 31 to 91%, mean of 69.2% (Fig.
2B). Neoplastic cells, for all cases, were positive for adipophilin, showing a
vesicular/droplets pattern in the cytoplasm of sebaceous neoplastic cells (Fig. 2C and
2D). In two primary lesions with metastasis and high-grade transformation, a diffuse
and granular expression of adipophilin was observed.
The cellular proliferative index assessed by Ki67 expression was higher in the
metastatic than in non-metastatic sebaceous adenocarcinomas, with values of 75-90%
and 8-24% respectively. The MVD, assessed by CD34-positive vessels count, was
higher in the two primary cases associated with metastasis than in non-metastatic cases.
Overall, neoplastic cells were negative for smooth muscle actin, calponin, Factor XIIIa,
S-100, CEA, ER, PR and AR. In addition, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain, PAS with
diastase and mucicarmine were negative in all cases. Immunohistochemical data is
shown in Table 3. The mean expression of MLH1 was 63% (28 to 83%) for neoplastic
cells, and 57% for MSH2 (2 to 80%) (Table 3, Fig. 2E and F). One case evidenced loss
of MSH2 expression, and lower MLH1 expression compared with the other sebaceous
The sebaceous carcinoma (SC) occurs in the skin, particularly in the eyelid16-18.
Extraocular SCs are uncommon, and most cases occur in the head and neck area19.
However, in the salivary glands it is exceptionally rare, with only 50 cases reported to
date20-22. This tumour is recognized as sebaceous adenocarcinomas when occurring in
salivary glands. Sebaceous adenocarcinomas of the salivary glands tend to be aggressive
with recurrences and high metastatic potential12,13,23. This series of 10 cases of
sebaceous adenocarcinomas of the parotid and submandibular glands seems to be the
largest series of the literature.
Recently, Tjarks et al.30 reported that Factor XIIIa (AC-1A1) nuclear expression
is a helpful marker for sebaceous differentiation and that its diagnostic utility exceeds
that of the adipophilin. However, in this research, in all cases, the neoplastic and normal
cells of adjacent sebaceous glands were consistently negative, corroborating with the
findings of Plaza et al.31, with evidence of negative expression of Factor XIIIa in 27
cases of ocular SCs. It is important to mention that a different Factor XIIIa antibody
(clone E980.1) was used in this study, in contrast to the one used in the original study
with positivity description
Overall, primary metastatic SC showed higher Ki67-index and higher MVD than
primary non-metastatic cases. Associated with the pattern of expression of adipophilin,
these markers may be useful in the prediction of metastatic potential in salivary gland
SC, but these results need be confirmed in future studies.
Author contributions
C.D. Soares, R. Carlos, A.M.M. Altemani and M.G.F. Carvalho conceptualized the
study, reviewed pathological slides, performed morphological analysis, and drafted the
manuscript. T.M.L. Morais performed the immunohistochemical reactions and the
digital analyses. J. Jorge and O.P. Almeida provided cases and clinical information,
analysed data and performed critical revision. All authors have read and approved the
final version to be published and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
References
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Accepted Article
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This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination
and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi:
10.1111/his.13664
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
ccepted Articl
Table 3. Histological and immunohistochemical features of sebaceous adenocarcinomas.
Case Necrosis Vascular Neural Holocrine CK5 CK7 CK14 EMA p63 ADP MVD CPI MLH1 MSH2
invasion invasion secretion
1 A A A A + + +, focal + 74% + 55 13% 54% 61%
2 A A A A + – – + 77% + 70 16% 72% 80%
3 P P P P + +, focal – + 91% +, granular 109 82% 65% 63%
4 P P A A + + + + 80% + 46 64% 28% 2%
5 P A A A + – +, focal + 65% +, granular 92 77% 50% 66%
6 A A A A + +, focal + + 79% + 75 11% 83% 79%
7 A A A P + + + + 82% + 44 8% 63% 72%
8 P A A P + – – + 73% + 53 16% 59% 45%
9 A A A A + +, focal – + 44% + 66 24% 81% 56%
10 A A P A + + – + 31% + 50 11% 70% 41%
P – Present, A – Absent, CK – Cytokeratin, EMA – Epithelial Membrane Antigen, ADP – Adipophilin, Microvessel density (MVD) was
expressed by [number of vessels] per mm², CPI – Cellular Proliferative Index by percentage of Ki67-positive nuclei, MutL Homolog 1 – MLH1
and MutS Homolog 2 – MSH2.