Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the apocrine variant of epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma.

Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma (EMCa) is a rare neoplasm that most frequently afflicts the parotid gland. Histologically, a dual layer of inner, luminal epithelial cells and outer myoepithelial cells with associated background hyalinization characterize these tumors. Several variants of EMCa have been described, including the more recent description of the apocrine variant. We present here a case of a 71-year-old male with a parotid mass diagnosed on FNA as an apocrine epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first case report describing the cytomorphologic features of apocrine EMCa on FNA smears.