Differential Diagnosis of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma from Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Salivary Gland on Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology

Abstract

A plasmacytoid appearance of individual tumor cells with abundant cytoplasm was a reliable finding in pleomorphic adenoma for differentiating it from adenoid cystic carcinoma. Practically, nuclear features were not enough to distinguish the two lesions in isolated cases.