Minor salivary gland tumors of the head and neck—Memorial Sloan Kettering experience: Incidence and outcomes by site and histological type

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Minor salivary gland carcinomas of the head and neck are rare cancers with variable clinical behavior. This study explored the incidence, pathology, clinical behavior, and factors predictive of outcomes in a large cohort of patients treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center over a 30-year period (1985-2015). METHODS: Clinical, pathological, treatment, and outcome data were collected. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios for each variable were calculated with univariate and multivariable Cox regression for survival and recurrence outcomes. RESULTS: Four hundred fifty patients were included: 55% were female, 56% were younger than 60 years, and the median follow-up was 74 months (range, 1-364 months). The most common site was the oral cavity with 305 tumors (68%), which was followed by the oropharynx with 96 (21%), the sinonasal cavity with 38 (8%), the trachea with 7 (2%), and the larynx with 4 (1%). The most common histological types were mucoepidermoid carcinoma (180 tumors [40%]), adenoid cystic carcinoma (141 tumors [31%]), and polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (54 tumors [12%]). The 5-year predicted overall survival rate was 86%, and the disease-specific survival rate was 94% at 5 years. Pathology and tumor stage were significant variables on multivariate analysis for overall survival, disease-specific survival, recurrence-free survival, local recurrencefree survival, regional recurrence-free survival, and distant recurrence-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: American Joint Committee on Cancer stage and pathology were the most predictive variables across all outcomes. Tumor site, postoperative radiotherapy, and margin status were not statistically significant variables after tumor stage and pathology were controlled for in most outcomes.

Clinical Outcome of Minor Salivary Gland Cancers in the Oral Cavity: A Comparative Analysis With Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Oral Cavity

“…Also, we confirmed good loco-regional control by adjuvant radiation in a subgroup of high-grade SGC in the oral cavity ( Table 7). Our finding was consistent with other reports (42,43); meanwhile one recent study indicated that postoperative radiotherapy was not a statistically significant variable for overall survival in minor salivary gland cancer of the head and neck (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.39-1.03, P = 0.068) (44). However, only 37.8% of patients had postoperative radiation in this report, which suggested somewhat a different treatment strategy (wider surgery) from our series (cases with a clear, negative margin = 48.3%).…”

“…This was similar to clinical courses in our series and the survival difference between the two cancer types remained similar as the initial cohort after matching. The 5-, 10-, 15-year overall survival rate in SGC were 91.9, 72.9, and 54.7% in our series, which were comparable with other studies (78-94% at 5 years, 40-84% at 10 years, 43-73% at 15 years) (34,38,43,44).…”

Characteristics and prognosis of primary treatment-naïve oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma in Norway, a descriptive retrospective study

“…Despite earlier detection and more treatment options, survival rate has not improved more than three to five percent over the last decades [11,15]. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result program (SEER) database has published five-year relative survival rate of 66% for tongue, and 53% for the floor of mouth in the period 2009-2015 [37].…”

Epitheliale Speicheldrüsentumoren – monozentrische retrospektive Erhebung für den Süden Sachsen-Anhalts

“…Die kleinen Speicheldrüsen werden eher als seltene Lokalisation für Tumoren bezeichnet [27]. Somit ist der Wert der eigenen Kohorte von 14,9 % (n = 57) durchaus realistisch.…”