Clear cell carcinoma of the mandibular gingiva ‘minor salivary gland’: a case report with immunohistochemical study

Clear cell carcinoma is a rare neoplasm that arises in salivary glands. They are more frequent in the intraoral minor salivary glands than the major salivary glands. The present case involved a 44-year-old Japanese man with a slight reddish swelling on the mandibular gingiva. Initial clinical diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma based on this erythroplakial lesion. All tumor cells displayed the expected pattern of immunoreactivity, with positive results for pancytokeratin and high molecular weight cytokeratin. This report examined the immunohistochemical characteristics of clear cell carcinoma, minor salivary gland, and reviewed the existing literature.