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salivary benign lymphoepithelial lesion
Tuesday 8 March 2005
SBLL
Benign lymphoepithelial lesion (BLL) results in the non-neoplastic uni- or bilateral enlargement of the major or minor salivary glands or lacrimal glands and may be associated with an autoimmune disease.
The enlargement is usually unilateral and involves the parotid. Unless infection is present, the swelling is asymptomatic.
Females are slightly more often affected than males, and Sjogren’s syndrome may or may not be present or develop. Histopathologically, a diffuse or nodular lymphocytic infiltrate is present with acinar atrophy and metaplasia of the ductal epithelium.
With proliferation of ductal epithelium and infiltration of lymphocytes, ductal lumina are obliterated with creation of epimyoepithelial islands surrounded by a chronic mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate.
Treatment is symptomatic with a good prognosis, and spontaneous resolution may occur. Benign lymphoepithelial lesion has been associated with the development of lymphoproliferative disorders such as lymphoma and with lymphoepithelial carcinoma. The latter lesion has shown an increased incidence among individuals of Eskimo extraction.
See also
lymphoepithelial sialadenitis
benign lymphoepithelial lesions (BLL)
salivary lymphoid lesions
References
Abbondanzo SL. Extranodal marginal-zone B-cell lymphoma of the salivary gland. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2001 Aug;5(4):246-54. PMID: 11510008
Harris NL. Lymphoid proliferations of the salivary glands. Am J Clin Pathol. 1999 Jan;111(1 Suppl 1):S94-103. PMID: 9894474
