Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most prevalent malignant tumor originating from the salivary gland. The gradation of MEC is determined histologically based on cellular composition, with high-grade MEC presenting with distinct characteristics and clinical implications. A 56-year-old male presented with a 3-month history of right facial swelling and a recent onset of pain. A subsequent biopsy confirmed a malignant epithelial tumor, with further imaging assisting in determining the surgical approach. Comprehensive surgery, involving the removal of the right submandibular gland and reconstructive procedures, was undertaken. Histopathological evaluation post-surgery confirmed a high-grade MEC. The differentiation between inflammatory conditions and neoplastic lesions in the orofacial region can be challenging. The gradation of MEC is important in guiding therapeutic decisions. Among various classification systems, the Brandwein system offers detailed histopathological criteria that correlate reliably with clinical features. High-grade MECs, although less frequent, are aggressive and have a lower 5-year survival rate. Accurate histopathological diagnosis is crucial in devising an effective treatment plan. The presented case underlines the importance of a meticulous yet periodic follow-up, considering the aggressive nature of high-grade MECs.

Taxillus yadoriki (Siebold) Dancer is a parasitic plant that grows on camellia trees and is common on Jeju Island. The branches of T. yadoriki have long been used to treat various diseases, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, viral infections, and arthritis. Although recent studies reported that T. yadoriki has anticancer effects in various human cancer cell lines, including lung cancer, the exact molecular mechanisms supporting its anticancer effects are not well understood. This study aims to assess the anticancer effect of the methanol extract of T. yadoriki branches (METY) on mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) cell lines (MC3 cells and YD15 cells) and explore its mechanism of action. Inhibitory activity of MEC cell proliferation was assessed using the CCK-8 assay. The mechanism of the anticancer effect on METY-treated MC3 cells and YD15 cells was evaluated with Hoechst 33342 stain and Western blot. After treating MC3 cells and YD15 cells with METY for 48 hours, the cytotoxicity of MC3 and YD15 cells increased, and nuclear fragmentation increased in both METY-treated MEC cells. Caspase-3 and cleaved PARP activation demonstrated apoptosis of METY-treated MEC cells. Cell proliferation inhibition with METY was alleviated in METY-treated MEC cells pretreated with zVAD-FMK, supporting the cell proliferation inhibition effect by apoptosis. METY-induced apoptosis in MEC cells occurs through MAP kinase pathways such as p38 and pAkt. MEC cell. METY-induced apoptosis of MEC cells occurs via the p38 and pAkt MAPK pathways. Therefore, METY may be a promising anticancer candidate for the MEC therapeutic strategy.

Background : Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common primary epithelial malignant salivary gland tumor in both adults and children. Histological grading of MEC is subjective, but plays an important role in predicting patient prognosis. Immunohistochemistry can accurately diagnose diseases and help with treatment and prognosis. The review of this paper was intended to be helpful in the differential diagnosis of mucinous epidermoid carcinoma. Methods : A PubMed search was carried out. Well-known biomarkers for mucoepidermoid carcinoma were searched in PubMed, and their differences with oral squamous cell carcinoma were compared. Results : When PubMed searched “oral mucoepidermoid carcinoma, biomarker”, a total of 241 papers were found, among which cytokeratin(22), Muc1(membrane-bound mucin1, 9), Muc4( membrane-bound mucin4, 6), Muc5ac (membrane-bound mucin5ac, 4), Muc5b (membrane-bound mucin5b, 3), p63 (15), PCNA (15), p53 (20), EGFR (Epidermal growth factor receptor, 21), c-erbB2 (HER2, 14), and pAKT (2) were searched and investigated. The biomarkers retrieved above were compared with those expressed in squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion : Due to the above biomarkers, it is possible to classify mucoepidermoid carcinoma and differentiate it from other salivary gland tumors or oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Although fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has been widely accepted as a valuable tool for differential diagnosis of head and neck tumors, the diagnostic value of FNAB in the management of salivary gland tumors has been questioned. This case report presents a patient with mucoepidermoid carcinoma of parotid gland diagnosed as pleomorphic adenoma by FNAB and discusses the pitfalls in the diagnosis of malignant salivary gland tumors.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma(MEC) is the most common salivary gland malignancies. As its name implies, the MEC is composed of a mixture of mucus-secreting cells and epidermoid cells. Histologically, MECs have been categorized into one of three grades : low, intermediate, or high grade. Although the MEC is the most common salivary gland tumor in both adults and children, MEC of sublingual gland accounts for only 1% of epithelial salivary tumors. This case report presents the histopathological features and management of MEC of the sublingual gland.

Background: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant epithelial tumor of the salivary gland in the oral cavity. In South Korea, it occurs most frequently in the palate, retromolar area, floor of the mouth, buccal mucosa, and other areas of the oral cavity. MEC is rare in children and adolescents under 20 years of age, but it is the most common malignant salivary gland tumor in this group. Reconstructive surgery is often required due to cystic lesions or resection of malignancy in the oral cavity. Buccal fat pad (BFP) is a flap that is reliable and suitable for reconstructing oral defects because it has a low complication rate and small volume change over time. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 12-year-old female patient with low-grade MEC on light soft palate with no neck metastasis. After tumor resection the palatal mucosal defect was reconstructed with a BFP flap. Conclusion: The purpose of this article is to discuss the features and treatment methods of MEC that is rarely occurring in children, and the usefulness of BFP for reconstruction. Therefore, we will make a precise diagnosis and treatment as we examine the clinical feature and review the literature.

Natural products are vastly utilized as a source of chemotherapeutic agents for human cancers. Kochia scopraia is traditionally used for the cure of urological and dermatological diseases. Recently, methanol extract of Kochia scoparia (MEKS) has been shown to have anti-cancer activity to various human cancers. However, there is no report demonstrating the anti-cancer activity of MEKS in human mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) cells. In this study, the authors studied the effects of MEKS on the cell proliferation and underlying mechanism in YD15 human MEC cells. MEKS decreased YD15 cell proliferation proven by trypan blue exclusion assay and induced apoptosis, evidenced by cell cycle analysis and western blotting. Autophagy induction by MEKS was verified by western blotting. In addition, MEKS regulated the expression of phosphorylated Akt, phosphorylated p38 and Nrf2 protein. This results can imply that MEKS might be a potential candidate for the treatment of human MEC cells.

Background: Cisplatin is a well-known platinum-containing anti-cancer drug against bladder, ovarian, lung and testicular cancer. However, the potential effects and molecular targets of cisplatin in human mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) are not fully understood. Here, we investigated the apoptotic effect and underlying mechanism of cisplatin in human MEC cells. Methods: The potential effects of cisplatin were evaluated by trypan blue exclusion assay, Western blotting, 4’-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, live/dead assay and immunocytochemistry. Results: Cisplatin suppressed cell growth and enhanced expression of cleaved PAPR in MC3 and YD15 cells. Cisplatin caused morphological change of nuclei and increased the number of ethidium homodimer-1-stained cells. In addition, cisplatin commonly increased Bax activation in both cells, while other Bcl-2 family proteins were not affected. Conclusions: These results suggest that cisplatin might induce apoptosis by activating Bax protein, which would provide baseline data for development of effective treatment strategy against MEC.

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a component of propolis, was reported to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-tumor activities. Our aim was to investigate the effect of CAPE on apoptosis in cultured human mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) cell line, MC-3. Apoptotic effects of CAPE were measured by cell viability assays, Western blotting, 4’-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and Live/Dead assay. The result of cell viability assay showed that CAPE displayed a strong growth-inhibitory effect in a concentration-dependent manner against MC-3 cells. Consumption of CAPE resulted in pronounced increase in the cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP, induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation and clearly increased the number of dead cells in MC-3 cells. CAPE also caused the increase in truncated Bid (t-Bid) and the cleavage of caspase-8 and this phenomenon was regulated by death receptor 5 (DR5). In addition, Phosphorylation of AKT and ERK were downregulated by CAPE. Taken together, these results suggest that CAPE is a potent apoptosis-inducing agent in MC-3 cells.

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) family, the copper dependent amine oxidase, oxidizes lysine residues in extracellular collagen and elastin. LOX increases the strength of the extracellular matrix and plays an important role in tumor development and metastasis. It has been reported that increased LOX protein and RNA are found in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover some studies regarded LOX as a prognostic marker of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. However there has not been any report on LOX expression of salivary gland tumors. Here, we investigated LOX expression in mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of salivary gland and compare it to those of pleomorphic adenoma (PA). We evaluated LOX expression in eighteen MEC, eighteen ACC and twenty PA cases by immunohistochemical examination. Whereas PA showed relatively low density of LOX expression, ACC revealed more cases that showing high staining intensities for LOX. Significantly increased LOX expression was found in the cases of ACC when compared to those of PA (P = 0.010).

Background. Vitamin K (VK) is a fat-soluble vitamin and is known to have anticancer activity in various cancer cell lines. However, there is no report on the anticancer effect of VK2 in mucoepidermoid carcinoma cells. Methods. The effects of VK2 on anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity were recognized by the trypan blue exclusion assay, 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining and Western blot analysis. Results. The results showed that VK2 decreased cell viability and induced apoptotic programmed cell death in MC3 cells evidenced by the cleavages of caspase3 and PARP. VK2 treatment clearly increased Bak and truncated Bid (t-Bid) compared with the control treatment whereas it did not alter other Bcl-2 family members. Conclusions. Overall, our results suggest that VK2 can be a good apoptotic inducer accompanied by the increase in Bak and Bid protein. VK2 may be a potent target of anticancer drug candidate for the treatment of oral cancer.

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a malignant neoplasm of salivary gland, rarely arises within the jaws. Differential diagnosis should include an odontogenic cyst because the central mucoepidermoid carcinoma usually reveals either an unilocular or multilocular radiolucency with hyperostotic border. Long-term follow-up is needed due to late recurrence and clinical slow progress like other salivary gland tumors. We would like to report an unusual case of central mucoepidermoid carcinoma with a review of literature.

Emodin is a bioactive compound isolated from the root and rhizomes of Rheum plamatum L. (polygenaceae), which is known as a traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine. In the present study, the effect of emodin on YD-15 mucoepidermoid carcinoma cells and its molecular mechanism were investigated. This study shows that emodin significantly inhibits the growth of YD-15 cells. Activation of caspase-3 and PARP is triggered by emodin and it increases sub-G1 population and the number of YD-15 cells with nuclear condensation and fragmentation. In addition, we found that emodin significantly decreases myeloid cell leukemia 1(MCL-1). These results suggest that MCl-1 is an important molecule for emodin-induced apoptosis. Taken together, emodin inhibits cell viability and induces apoptosis via down-regulation of MCL-1 and it can be a new potent anticancer drug candidate for the treatment of mucoepidermoid carcinoma

Al thou gh calcifi cation is a common finding in inflammatory salivary gland disorders , saliva ry gland tumour ra rely s hows calcifications. A case of clear cell mucoepidermoid carcinoma(MEC) of the hard pa late with extensive intra tumoural calcifïcations vis ible on computed tomog r때hy(CT) scans and histologic sections is described. The calci fï caLion in the sali va ry gland tumour 0 1' the palate recogni zed by a CT scan s hould be considered in the differential diagnosis of a MEC The mechanism of the i ntratumoural calcifi cation in our case is speculated to be a result of a secretory fu nction 0 1' the tumour cells