Salivary glands
General
Grossing, frozen section & features to report
Author: Adriana Handra-Luca, M.D., Ph.D.
Last author update: 1 September 2012
Last staff update: 18 February 2020
Copyright: 2003-2025, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Salivary glands gross[TI]
Cite this page: Handra-Luca A Grossing, frozen section & features to report. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/salivaryglandsgrossing.html. Accessed January 16th, 2025.
Grossing
- At least one section per 1 cm of tumor for large tumors, including tumor center and periphery
- Submit entire tumor if can do so in 5 sections or less
- Submit resection margins
- Save intervening levels on biopsies for special stains
- For neck dissections, should have 6 or more lymph nodes if selective dissection and 10 or more if modified radical neck dissection
Note also presence or absence of:
- Capsule
- Cartilage, calcific deposits
- Cystic change
- Extraglandular extension
- Localized / diffuse nature of tumor
- Margin involvement
- Necrosis
- Solitary / multifocal tumor
Frozen section
- Useful to determine extent of surgery needed, particularly for parotid tumors
- Most common error is to diagnose mucoepidermoid carcinoma as benign
Features to report
- Tumor histologic type and pattern
- Anatomic site of origin / location, side
- Tumor size
- Tumor histologic grade (for mucoepidermoid carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, NOS, malignant mixed tumor, adenoid cystic carcinoma)
- Tumor extension (intra or extraglandular), to adjacent structures
- Status of resection margins
- Vascular invasion
- Perineural invasion
- Lymph nodes: for each level, number obtained, number involved by tumor, size of largest nodal metastases, presence of extracapsular spread, side, if appropriate - major nerve (e.g. facial) or vessel (e.g. jugular vein), bone, skin involvement
