Differential Cytological Diagnosis of Salivary Tumors

Cytological morphology is specific in salivary tumors. The review of the literature shows that fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is an excellent preoperative method to accurately diagnose many of the entities. For the tumor to be correctly diagnosed, the pathologist must evaluate the particular components present on the smear. This includes cellular and stromal components. The most difficult group is represent by tumors rich in myoepithelial cells, which are capable to produce chondroid and myxoid substances and where some morphological patterns may be overlapping between different tumor entities.