Papillary Cystadenoma of the Hard Palate: A case report

Papillary cystadenoma (PC) is an uncommon benign tumor of the salivary glands, sometimes involving the minor salivary glands. We report a case of PC of minor salivary gland origin located in the hard palate of an 82-year-old woman. The patient complained of swelling of the hard palate, and medical examination of the left side revealed an elastic, hard, painless mass, which was normal in color and measured 8 mm in diameter. After establishing a clinical diagnosis of benign tumor of the hard palate, the lesion was excised under local anesthesia. Histopathologically, the tumor showed papillary proliferations of the lining epithelium, composed of one or two layers of cuboidal or columnar epithelial cells, in multiple cystic spaces. Histogenesis of the tumor was confirmed immunohistochemically, and the lesion was diagnosed as PC.