**3. Results**

During the observational period, 128 MECs were identified, 82 involving the major and 46 the minor salivary glands; among these, 14 showed an exclusive intra-cystic tumoral component in the absence of infiltration of the adjacent tissues, as confirmed by the evaluation of additional cutting levels, the salient clinico-pathological features of which are reported in Table 1. Among such patients there were three males and 11 females, with a median age of 36.8 years; nine MECs involved the hard palate, two cases the soft palate, two the cheek mucosa and one case the retromolar trigone. In all instances, the neoplasms appeared as intra-oral nodules (Figure 1), sometimes with slight erosion/ulceration of the surface epithelium; and showed painless, slow growth and hard consistency, without evident infiltration of the adjacent soft and hard tissues, as confirmed by MR (conventional acronym for Magnetic Resonance) and CT scans. The tumor dimensions were relatively small, with a minimum clinical diameter of 0.5 cm up to a maximum of 1.8 cm. No loco-regional node involvement was detectable by clinical inspection or imaging techniques in any instance. All patients underwent conservative surgical excision with a rim of normal tissue. It should be emphasized that all the tumors of this cohort were localized in minor salivary glands and we were unable to identify "pure" intra-cystic (in situ) MEC in major glands.


**Table 1.** Clinico-pathological features of the patients with intra-cystic mucoepidemoid carcinoma (all alive without evidence of disease after the specified follow-up interval).
