Conjunctival mucoepidermoid carcinoma: clear cell variant.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is a rare conjunctival neoplasm that is a common malignancy in the salivary glands. In the conjunctiva it often mimics squamous cell carcinoma. Histologically the tumors are believed to arise from pluripotential basal cells and, possibly, mucussecreting elements, and therefore are composed of mucus-secreting cells intermixed with epidermoid cells. The clear cell variant of mucoepidermoid carcinoma has been described in the major and minor salivary glands, the oral cavity, the skin, and the upper respiratory tract. We report a case of a clear cell variant of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the conjunctiva. To our knowledge, this variant has not been previously reported in the conjunctiva.