Immunoprofile of a carcinosarcoma of the submandibular gland

Carcinosarcomas are a very rare group of true malignant tumors of the salivary gland. As the name indicates, the tumor is composed of an epithelial and a mesenchymal component, both malignant. We report a case of carcinosarcoma of the submandibular gland in an 86-year-old woman. The epithelial component showed a squamous carcinoma phenotype, whereas the mesenchymal component was morphologically similar to a fibrosarcoma. The epithelial component was strongly positive for CK13, CK14, and AE1/AE, and groups of positive cells were seen for CK19 and vimentin. The whole mesenchymal component was positive for vimentin, negative for cytokeratins, and focal cells were positive for smooth- muscle actin. Both components were strongly positive for P53 and Cyclin D1, and focally positive for MDM2. Rare multinucleated giant cells showed expression of CD68, and focal dendritical cells on carcinomatous nests were positive for S-100. The CK7, CK8, Factor XIIIa, c-erbB-2, P16, CDK-4, Rb1, and E2F-1 were not detected in these 2 groups of malignant cell populations.