Clinical and molecular features of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas of salivary glands.

BACKGROUND To analyze clinical features and to discuss the modality of investigation and treatment of a series of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. To investigate the prevalence of aberrant promoter methylation, responsible for gene inactivation, in a selected panel of genes potentially involved in the pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies as O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), p73, death-associated protein kinase (DAP-k). METHODS Nine patients with primary MALT lymphoma of the salivary glands were retrospectively reviewed. MGMT, p73, DAP-k apoptotic pathways were tested. RESULTS Methylation of DAP-k was common (5/8; 63%). Histological examination ensured diagnostic confirmation, whereas fine-needle aspiration cytology was not definitively diagnostic. CONCLUSION Histological assessment is the gold standard in the diagnosis of salivary gland lesions. Parotidectomy represents a safe and reliable diagnostic tool leading to a definite diagnosis of MALT lymphomas in all cases and curative without other treatment in early-stage MALT lymphoma.