Pain is the most common symptom, followed by either sensorineural or conductive hearing loss, tinnitus or drainage (discharge). A mass lesion may be present, but it is often slow growing.

The signs and symptoms are similar to other cervical cancers and may include post-coital bleeding and/or pain during intercourse (dyspareunia). Early lesions may be completely asymptomatic.

Due to the diverse nature of salivary gland tumours, many different terms and classification systems have been used. Perhaps the most widely used currently is that system proposed by the World Health Organization in 2004, which classifies salivary neoplasms as primary or secondary, benign or malignant, and also by tissue of origin. This system defines five broad categories of salivary gland neoplasms:

Benign epithelial tumors

- Pleomorphic adenoma

- Warthin's tumor

- Myoepithelioma

- Basal cell adenoma

- Oncocytoma

- Canalicular adenoma

- Lymphadenoma

- "Sebaceous lymphadenoma"

- "Nonsebaceous lymphadenoma"

- Ductal papilloma

- "Inverted ductal papilloma"

- "Intraductal papilloma"

- "Sialadenoma papilliferum"

- Cystadenoma

- Malignant epithelial tumors

- Acinic cell carcinoma

- Mucoepidermoid carcinoma

- Adenoid cystic carcinoma

- Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma

- Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma

- Clear cell carcinoma, not otherwise specified

- Basal cell adenocarcinoma

- Sebaceous carcinoma

- Sebaceous lymphadenocarcinoma

- Cystadenocarcinoma

- Low-grade cribriform cystadenocarcinoma

- Mucinous adenocarcinoma

- Oncocytic carcinoma

- Salivary duct carcinoma

- Salivary duct carcinoma, not otherwise specified

- Adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified

- Myoepithelial carcinoma

- Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma

- Mammary analogue secretory carcinoma

- Carcinosarcoma

- Metastasizing pleomorphic adenoma

- Squamous cell carcinoma

- Large cell carcinoma

- Lymphoepithelial carcinoma

- Sialoblastoma

- Soft tissue tumors

- Hemangioma

- Hematolymphoid tumors

- Hodgkin lymphoma

- Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

- Extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma

- Secondary tumors (i.e. a tumor which has metastasized to the salivary gland from a distant location)

Others, not included in the WHO classification above, include:

- Intraosseous (central) salivary gland tumors

- Hybrid tumors (i.e. a tumor displaying combined forms of histologic tumor types)

- Hybrid carcinoma

- Others

- Others

- Keratocystoma

- Sialolipoma

This tumor only affects the outer 1/3 to 1/2 of the external auditory canal as a primary site. If this area is not involved, the diagnosis should be questioned. The most common tumor type is ceruminous adenoid cystic carcinoma and ceruminous adenocarcinoma, NOS.

Salivary gland tumours usually present as a lump or swelling in the affected gland which may or may not have been present for a long time. The lump may be accompanied by symptoms of duct blockage (e.g. xerostomia). Usually, in their early stages it is not possible to distinguish a benign tumour from a malignant one. One of the key differentiating symptoms of a malignant growth is nerve involvement. For example signs of facial nerve damage (e.g facial palsy) are associated with malignant parotid tumours. Facial pain, and paraesthesia are also very often associated with a malignant tumours. Other red flag symptoms which may suggest malignancy and warrant further investigation are fixation of the lump to the overlying skin, ulceration and induration of the mucosa.

Villoglandular adenocarcinoma of the cervix, also villoglandular papillary adenocarcinoma, papillary villoglandular adenocarcinoma and well-differentiated villoglandular adenocarcinoma, abbreviated VGA, is a rare type of cervical cancer that, in relation to other cervical cancers, is typically found in younger women and has a better prognosis.

A similar lesion, "villoglandular adenocarcinoma of the endometrium", may arise from the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium.

Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma, often abbreviated PLGA, is a rare, asymptomatic, slow-growing malignant salivary gland tumor. It is most commonly found in the palate.

The name of the tumor derives from the fact that:

- It has a varied microscopic architectural appearance, i.e. it is "polymorphous".

- It is non-aggressive when compared to other oral cavity tumors, i.e. it is a "low-grade" tumor.

- It forms glands, i.e. it is an "adenocarcinoma".

It affects the minor salivary glands in the area between the hard and the soft palate. Male to female ratio is 3:1, and the average age is 56 years.

Bartholin gland can be differentiated by histology to determine whether the malignancy is due to squamous cell carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, or adenocarcinomas.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (sometimes referred to as adenocyst, malignant cylindroma, adenocystic, adenoidcystic, ACC or AdCC.) is a rare type of cancer that can exist in many different body sites. This tumor most often occurs in the salivary glands, but it can also be found in many anatomic sites, including the breast, lacrimal gland, lung, brain, bartholin gland, trachea, and the paranasal sinuses.

It is the third most common malignant salivary gland tumor overall (after mucoepidermoid carcinoma and polymorphous low grade adenocarcinoma). It represents 28% of malignant submandibular gland tumors, making it the single most common malignant salivary gland tumor in this region. Patients may survive for years with metastases because this tumor is generally well-differentiated and slow growing. In a 1999 study of a cohort of 160 ACC patients, disease specific survival was 89% at 5 years but only 40% at 15 years, reflecting deaths from late-occurring metastatic disease.

APAs are characterized by glands with abnormal shapes that: (1) often have squamous metaplasia, and (2) are surrounded by benign smooth muscle. Nuclear atypia, if present, is mild.

The microscopic differential diagnosis includes endometrial carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma.

Bartholin gland carcinoma is an uncommon type of malignancy in the Bartholin gland that accounts for 1% of all vulvar malignant neoplasms. It is most common in women in their mid-60s. The tumor can become large before a woman is aware of symptoms. One of the first symptoms can be dyspareunia. In other instances a woman may find a mass or ulcer in the vulva area. Many clincians assume that an enlarged Bartholin gland is malignant in postmenopausal woman until proven otherwise. The growth of the tumor can spread to nearby areas such as the ischiorectal fossa and inguinal lymph nodes. Approximately 50% of bartholin gland carcinomas originate from squamous cell carcinomas. Another uncommon characteristic of Bartholin gland malignancies is that the growth of a lesion originates from the three types of epithelial tissue present in the gland: mucinous, transitional, and squamous.

PLGAs consist of a monomorphous cell population that has a varied histologic morphology.

Microscopically, its histology can be confused with an adenoid cystic carcinoma and a pleomorphic adenoma.

Apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinomas first appear as small lumps associated with one of the anal sacs (rarely bilateral), but they can grow to a large size. Smaller tumors are undetectable without a rectal examination, while larger tumors can cause pain and straining to defecate. Between 25 and 40 percent of dogs with these tumors will also develop hypercalcaemia through secretion of parathyroid hormone-related protein by the tumor. Symptoms of hypercalcaemia include increased drinking and urination, vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, and bradycardia (slow heart rate). Apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinomas also have a tendency to metastasize to the regional lymph nodes, spleen, and eventually lungs and, less commonly, bones. The sublumbar (iliac) lymph nodes are the most common site of metastasis and can become larger than the original tumor.

Atypical polypoid adenomyoma, abbreviated APA, is a rare uncommon benign tumour of the uterus.

On a subsequent biopsy, given the diagnosis of ASAP, the chance of finding prostate adenocarcinoma is approximately 40%; this is higher than if there is high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN).

Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia is a subtype of pneumocytic hyperplasia in the lung. It can be a precursor lesion of in situ adenocarcinoma of the lung (bronchioloalveolar carcinoma).

In prostate tissue biopsy, it can be confused for adenocarcinoma of the prostate. The needle biopsy rate is less than 1%.

Ceruminous adenoma are rare tumors, accounting for less than 1% of all external ear tumors. The patients will present with a mass, perhaps associated pain, and may have changes in hearing (usually a sensorineural or a conductive hearing loss). Some patients have tinnitus. Nerve paralysis is very uncommon.

Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung (EMECL) is a very rare histologic form of malignant epithelial neoplasm ("carcinoma") arising from lung tissue.

In urologic pathology, atypical small acinar proliferation, abbreviated ASAP, is a collection of small prostatic glands, on prostate biopsy, whose significance is uncertain and cannot be determined to be benign or malignant.

ASAP, generally, is "not" considered a pre-malignancy, or a carcinoma in situ; it is an expression of diagnostic uncertainty, and analogous to the diagnosis of ASCUS (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance) on the Pap test.

Clear-cell adenocarcinoma is a type of adenocarcinoma that shows clear cells.

Types include:

- Clear-cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina

- Clear-cell ovarian carcinoma

- Uterine clear-cell carcinoma

- Clear-cell adenocarcinoma of the lung (which is a type of Clear-cell carcinoma of the lung)

See also:

- Clear-cell squamous cell carcinoma of the lung

Anal sac adenocarcinomas are often suspected due to location (palpable masse in anal sac) and behavior, but a biopsy and histopathology is necessary for a definitive diagnosis. Fine needle aspiration and cytology is a common first step. Cytopathology reveals clusters of cells with uniform round nuclei. These cells do not have many of the features usually associated with malignancy, such as a high nucleus to cytoplasm ratio or prominent nucleoli. Ultrasonography and radiography are performed to look for metastasis.

HGPIN in isolation is asymptomatic. It is typically discovered in prostate biopsies taken to rule-out prostate cancer and very frequently seen in prostates removed for prostate cancer.

Papillary adenocarcinoma is a histological form of lung cancer that is diagnosed when the malignant cells of the tumor form complex papillary structures and exhibit compressive, destructive growth that replaces the normal lung tissue.

This uncommon tumor accounts for less than 2% of all ear tumors. While patients present with symptoms related to the middle ear cavity location of the tumor, the tumor may expand into the adjacent structures (external auditory canal, mastoid bone, and eustachian tube). Patients come to clinical attention with unilateral (one sided) hearing loss, usually associated with decreased auditory acuity, and particularly conductive hearing loss if the ossicular bone chain (middle ear bones) is involved. Tinnitus (ringing), otitis media, pressure or occasionally ear discharge are seen. At the time of otoscopic exam, the tympanic membrane is usually intact, with a fluid level or mass noted behind the ear drum. Even though this is a "neuroendocrine" type tumor, there is almost never evidence of neuroendocrine function clinically or by laboratory examination.

In urologic pathology, high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, abbreviated HGPIN, is an abnormality of prostatic glands and believed to precede the development of prostate adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer).

It may be referred to simply as prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (abbreviated as PIN). It is considered to be a pre-malignancy, or carcinoma in situ, of the prostatic glands.