Basal cell adenoma of the salivary gland is an uncommon type of monomorphic adenoma. The most frequent location is parotid gland. It usually appears as a firm, mobile and slow-growing mass. Originally the term "basal cell adenoma" is described as a benign salivary gland tumor comprised of uniform appearing basaloid cells which are arranged in solid, trabecular, tubular, and membranous patterns. But the myxoid and chondroid mesenchymal like component as seen in pleomorphic adenoma is lacking in basal cell adenoma. We report a case of basal cell adenoma of parotid gland with review of the literatures.

The 59-year-old female patient was referred to our department with a painless palpable mass in the left preauricular region for about 1 year. Movable and nontender subcutaneous mass was palpable. There was no evidence of cervical metastasis in computed tomography and ultrasonography. On fine needle aspiration cytology, pleomorphic adenoma was suspected. Under general anesthesia, superficial parotidectomy including tumor was performed. The biopsy result was basal cell adenoma.

Long-term follow-up for 54 months showed favorable result without evidence of recurrence except for temporary facial nerve weakness right after the surgery.

Basal cell adenoma is the third most frequent benign tumor of the salivary gland, following pleomorphic adenoma and Warthin's tumor, although the incidence is low. The typical clinical feature of the basal cell adenoma is slowly growing, asymptomatic, and freely movable parotid mass. Basal cell adenoma should be also considered as a differential diagnosis of the parotid gland benign tumor.