Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of the trachea: a report of two cases and literature review

Abstract

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the trachea is rare, it represents 1% of all respiratory tract cancers. It's generally considered as a slow-growing, with pronlonged clinical course. Most patients present with dyspnea, and the symptoms often mimic those of asthma or chronic bronchitis Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment often combined to radiotherapy because of close surgical margins. When surgery isn't possible, most tumors respond to radiotherapy alone wich often results in long periods of remission We report two cases of primary ACC of trachea: a 49 year old male presented a distal unresectable tracheal ACC treated with chemo-radiotherapy who developed a recurrence and died 7 years after the diagnosis. And a 50 years old female with a proximal tracheal tumor treated by surgical resection and end- to- end anastomosis followed by adjuvant radiotherapy. At 10 months follow-up, our patient shows no evidence of disease with negative histological findings.

Proton Beam Therapy for Bronchogenic Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma: Dosimetry, Toxicities, and Outcomes

“…Based on these reports and through extrapolation from head and neck ACC, adjuvant RT may be indicated for cases with surgical microscopically or gross positive margins, lymph nodal metastases, and/or perineural invasion [13,14]. Furthermore, in cases of medical or surgical inoperability, definitive radiation therapy is the standard treatment approach and can achieve durable tumor control for primary bronchogenic ACC [15,16].…”

Recurrence of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the trachea treated with radical radiotherapy: A case report

“…The mean time between the appearance of disease symptoms and the establishment of a diagnosis is long: 18.3 months in patients with neoplasms that can be resected and 23.7 months in patients with inoperable neoplasms (8). Patients are often treated for asthma for a substantial period of time prior to the establishment of an appropriate diagnosis (7). In the present case, the female patient presented with gradually increasing dyspnea and stridor, symptoms indicating upper airway obstruction.…”

Adenoid cystic carcinoma in trachea: A rare presentation

“…3,6 Metastasis to brain, liver, kidney, skin, abdomen and heart have been reported. 7 Adenoid cystic Carcinoma often invaded the cartilaginous plate of trachea, extending to lung parenchyma and even to hilar and mediastinal soft tissue. They show heterogenous growth patterns, where the neoplastic cells are arranged in cribriform pattern, tubules and solid nests.…”