A Histochemical Study of Mucin Expression in Salivary Gland Tumours in Tertiary Care Hospital in Indian Population

Neoplasms of the salivary glands account for 2% to 7% of head and neck neoplasms but less than 1% (approximately 0.3%) of malignancies from all body sites. Among them, pleomorphic adenoma (PA), mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), and adenoid cystic carcinoma (AdCC) are the most common subtypes. Present study aims to investigate expression of mucins in the salivary gland tumour using special staining techniques in tertiary care hospital. The primary objectives of the present study are to prepare a database to identify the most common salivary gland tumour, to identify the frequency of salivary gland tumours in different age and sex groups, to identify the type of mucin in salivary gland tumours by using different staining techniques, and to compare mucin expression between benign and malignant salivary gland tumours. Acidic mucin was the most frequently expressed type (60%), followed by mixed (25%) and neutral mucin (15%). Most common tumour was PA followed by MEC and AdCC. In conclusion, histochemical evaluation of mucin offers a cost-effective and reliable adjunct in differentiating benign from malignant salivary gland tumours. Mucicarmine and Alcian Blue demonstrated high diagnostic specificity for benign lesions, particularly PA. The study emphasizes the value of integrating special stains into routine diagnostic protocols and provides a regional dataset on the histopathological spectrum of SGTs in a tertiary care hospital.