# Salivary Gland Secretory Carcinoma in the Facial Region: A Pediatric Case Presentation

**Authors:** Alexandra Perales, Miguel Flores, Carlos Manresa, Mariana Villarroel-Dorrego

PMC · DOI: 10.7759/cureus.98466 · Cureus · 2025-12-04

## TL;DR

This paper presents a rare case of salivary gland secretory carcinoma in a 12-year-old child, highlighting its unusual occurrence in pediatric patients.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in documenting a pediatric case of a tumor typically found in adults, emphasizing the need for awareness in younger populations.

## Key findings

- Salivary gland secretory carcinoma can occur in children, despite being predominantly an adult-onset tumor.
- The case presented a slow-growing, painless facial mass that was confirmed as secretory carcinoma via histopathology.

## Abstract

Salivary gland secretory carcinoma (SC) represents a rare, slow-growing, low-grade malignant neoplasm that occurs mainly in the parotid gland. It has a slight predilection for the male gender and usually appears in adulthood. The morphologic and immunohistochemical features are like those observed in secretory breast carcinoma; however, it has been described as a distinct salivary gland tumor. Its clinical characteristics remain nonspecific and therefore can be misdiagnosed. This report describes a 12-year-old patient who presented with a slow, progressive, painless, and deforming mass at the level of the left lower third of the face, of eight months' evolution. After clinical and imaging evaluation, an excisional biopsy was performed. The sample was sent for histopathological study, which reported salivary gland SC. Although this condition typically presents in adults, it can occur in children, and it is important to consider it among the neoplasms that can occur at this age.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** SC (MESH:C537535), Salivary Gland Secretory Carcinoma (MESH:D012468), malignant neoplasm (MESH:D009369)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12764378/full.md

## Figures

5 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12764378/full.md

## References

32 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12764378/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12764378