Low-grade papillary adenocarcinoma of the palate

Abstract

Low-grade papillary adenocarcinoma of the palate is a rare but distinctive neoplasm. This tumor progresses slowly and is often misdiagnosed and inadequately treated initially. Although its slow growth may allow the clinician a second chance at curative surgery even years after the original excision, the axiom of adequate total excision by the initial surgeon is still important, since this carcinoma will recur locally and will metastasize to regional lymph nodes. However, in each of the two cases presented in this report, the metastasis was almost “inclusion-like:” it involved only a single cervical lymph node.