Salivary duct carcinoma of the parotid gland: a rare cancer and a potential ominous mimicker

Abstract

Salivary duct carcinoma is a rare malignant tumor of the salivary glands that most frequently affects the parotid gland in men in their 7th decade of life. It presents as a rapidly growing mass, which develops aggressively with risk of early distant metastases, local recurrence, and high mortality. Imaging findings are nonspecific but are important in the diagnosis of malignancy, and also for staging. The diagnosis is made through histopathological examination. The therapeutic approach is not yet consensual but it is usually aggressive, with total parotidectomy being recommended, as well as postoperative radiation therapy in certain cases, and chemotherapy in metastatic disease. In this case report, we present the case of a 79-year-old man with a painless, indurated swelling in the right parotid region, associated with irregular violaceous cutaneous plaques, later diagnosed as a salivary duct carcinoma.