Salivary gland tumours in Malaya.

Abstract

ALTHOUGH there is a voluminous amount of literature on salivary gland tumours, investigations based on significantly large number of cases have been relatively few. From this part of the world, reliable information is even less readily obtainable. In the present series, 670 salivary gland tumours are available for study. It is hoped that this large material may furnish additional data on these tumours and on those aspects which are peculiar to Malaya in particular. MATERIALS AND METHODSThis study is based on the material collected in the Pathology Division of the Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, over the eighteen year period from 1948-1965 inclusive. The material comprised 670 cases of salivary gland tumours.All histological sections were re-examined. Only the brief clinical histories which accompanied the specimens were available. These were studied in relation to the different histological types. RESULTS FrequencyThe State of Selangor, which contains the capital of Malaya, has the best records and medical facilities. The standardised rate for salivary gland tumours computed in this state is therefore taken as a representative example.In the year 1965, the end-of-year population figure is given as 694,064 males and 645,078 females in Selangor. During this year, 14 new cases of salivary gland tumours were seen, 9 of which were in males and 5 in females. This gives an incidence rate as follows: Males:

Salivary tumours

“…These tumours accounted for 25% of all malignant neoplasms in this population, but their frequency has declined significantly since that time (54). In Malaysia, a higher frequency of malignant salivary tumours was reported in ethnic Malays than either Indians or Chinese (37). However, in China itself, a relatively high frequency of intra‐oral malignant salivary gland tumours has recently been reported (63).…”

Characteristics of 5015 Salivary Gland Neoplasms Registered in the Hiroshima Tumor Tissue Registry over a Period of 39 Years

“…Despite their rarity, salivary gland neoplasms represent a wide variety of benign and malignant histological subtypes that is apparently unparalleled in comparison to any other organs. Although previous epidemiologic and demographic studies on salivary gland tumors from various parts of the world [4,5,6,7,8,9] have provided valuable knowledge, there were also discrepancies in these tumors between different geographic areas and ethnic groups [10,11]. In addition, some of the data became contradictory and less precise for several reasons, such as the transition in classification over a few decades, the omission of the registration of benign tumors, which constitute the majority of salivary gland tumors [12], and the inter-institutional bias of tumors in cancer institutions or referral centers for problematic cases, as mentioned by Buchner et al [4].…”

Salivary gland neoplasms in oral and maxillofacial regions: a 23-year retrospective study of 6982 cases in an eastern Chinese population

“…There are discrepancies in the incidence of salivary gland tumors between different geographic areas and ethnic groups 7 . A survey of different ethnic groups in Malaysia showed a higher frequency of salivary gland tumors in Malays than in Chinese and Indians 16 . Many studies of the distribution of tumor site, patient age and sex have dealt with tumors presenting within the parotid gland or major or minor glands 12 .…”