“Adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified”: A diminishing group of salivary carcinomas

As refinements in classification with clinicopathologic correlations proceed, the “adenocarcinomas, not otherwise specified” (NOS) of salivary tissue are reduced in number. Clinicopathologic entities such as salivary duct carcinoma, terminal duct carcinoma, and epimyoepithelial carcinoma, formerly in the NOS category, are examples of this process. There remain, however, adenocarcinomas of salivary tissues that cannot be accommodated in conventional classifications. They are the least common of salivary carcinomas and manifest a cytoarchitecture ranging from a well-differentiated, low-grade appearance to high-grade, invasive lesions. This report addresses this group of carcinomas for which the NOS designation is still applicable.