Papillary cystic variant of acinic cell carcinoma presenting as parotid tail tumor

Acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon low-grade tumor of the salivary glands that constitutes 2.5–4% of parotid gland tumors. Papillary cystic variant (PCV) of ACC is even rarer and can be diagnosed on histopathological examination only. It is important to diagnose this variant as it carries a poor prognosis when compared with other variants of ACC and is known to be universally fatal in 10 years. The present case describes ACC-PCV in a 20-year-old male, which presented as a slow growing parotid tail tumor and was misdiagnosed as a benign lesion both cytologically and radiologically. This case emphasizes the importance of histopathological examination in parotid masses as well as the need to consider malignant lesion in the differential diagnosis of a parotid tail tumor.