Mucoepidermoid tracheo-bronchial tumors in adulthood. A series of 22 cases]

Introduction. - Mucoepidermoid tumours (TME) are rare tumours arising from the submucosal glands of the tracheobronchial tree. The majority of these tumours develop in a benign fashion but some of them are malignant. The latter can be easily mistaken for adenosquamous carcinomas. Patients and method. - We have reviewed 22 patients suffering from TME observed over a period of 25 years. Two arose from the trachea and 20 from the cartilaginous bronchi; 12 of these tumours had macroscopic and histological criteria of low-grade malignancy, 4 had macroscopic and 6 macroscopic and microscopic criteria of high grade malignancy. Results. - Prognosis of the latter was very poor and no survival observed after 6 years follow-up, a behavior similar to that observed in non-small cell lung carcinomas and adenosquamous carcinomas. Conclusion. - The best treatment of these orphan tumours remains surgery. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.