Metastatic HPV-Mediated Adenocarcinoma Arising from a Base of Tongue Primary: A Case Report with Cytomorphology and Molecular Findings with Review of the Literature

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-mediated squamous cell carcinomas of the oropharynx are common, however only rare cases of HPV-mediated oropharyngeal adenocarcinoma have been reported to date. In this report, we describe a 50 year old nonsmoking male who originally presented with an enlarging neck mass. Fine needle aspiration cytology confirmed an HPV-mediated adenocarcinoma. Subsequent surgery identified a 0.7 cm base of tongue primary HPV-mediated carcinoma with focal glandular differentiation and a 4.0 cm cystic lymph node metastasis demonstrating entirely glandular differentiation. Next generation sequencing of the metastasis detected a pathogenic NOTCH1 mutation.

Keywords: Base of tongue; Carcinoma; HPV-mediated adenocarcinoma; Human papillomavirus; NOTCH1; Oropharynx.