Warthin tumor: Assessment of association with salivary gland and non-salivary gland malignant tumors via clinicopathological and radiological data

This study aims to find out the incidence of malignant tumors originating from the salivary gland or other organs in patients with Warthin tumor (WT) and compare the clinicopathological, radiological, and demographic data of WT patients with or without malignant tumors. The study population consisted of 170 patients diagnosed with WT from cytology, surgery, and consultation materials between 2010 and 2021 in our hospital. Patient files were reviewed in terms of demographic data, smoking status, presence of malignant tumor, radiological findings, symptom duration, and operation procedure. A total of 40 malignant tumors were detected in 36 (21.2%) of 170 patients with WT. The most common localizations of malignant tumors were lung (35.0%), head and neck (35.0%), and genitourinary (12.5%) regions. The mean age of the patients with malignant tumor diagnosis (62.1±9.2) was higher than the patients without (56.5±9.8) (p=0.002). There was no significant difference between cases with and without malignant tumors in terms of gender, multifocality, bilaterality, amount of smoking, and pain complaints (p>0.05). The SUVmax of WTs ranged from 3 to 17.7 (median: 6.8, IQR: 5.5-11.0), and that of malignant tumors ranged from 2.7 to 16.2 (median: 8, IQR: 5.1-10.3) (p=0.756). This study demonstrates that WT can be seen with malignant tumors synchronously but also encountered before and after the malignant tumor diagnosis. This possibility should be considered, especially in the head and neck region, in patients diagnosed with malignant tumors or being investigated.