Successful Primary Radiation Therapy of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Lung

Abstract

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a distinctive malignant neoplasm generally arising from minor salivary glands, that arises infrequently as a primary tumor in the lung. Surgery has been considered the primary treatment, with radiotherapy generally utilized as adjuvant or palliative treatment. We report a patient in whom primary radiotherapy was sucessfully applied to treat adenoid cystic carcinoma involving the distal trachea, carina, and both main stem bronchi. A total dose of 66 Gy was delivered in 2-Gy fractions over a 7-week period. Clinically and histologically complete remission was achieved without evidence of disease during a 27-month follow up.

Low recurrence of lung adenoid cystic carcinoma with radiotherapy and resection

“…There are case series starting to emerge which show that radiotherapy with an R1 resection can obtain long‐term survival times equivalent to that found in patients with a negative margin resection (R0 resection) . Our case series is supportive of these findings; survival‐free metastasis in patients who underwent R0 resection was 50% ( n = 1/2) at 5 years and 0% ( n = 0/2) at 10 years, compared with 0% ( n = 0/3) at 5 and 10 years for patients who had incomplete resections.…”

Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of the bronchus in a female teenager

“…Most ACCs are radiosensitive and the presence of lymph node involvement may not necessarily decrease survival 9. There is some literature advocating dose–response radiotherapy as a primary treatment 10. However, no robust data are available to support such claims of long-term survival benefits 11.…”

Primary Pulmonary Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Located at the end of the Terminal Bronchiolus: Case Report

“…Surgery is the primary management of pulmonary ACC. Adjuvant radiation therapy is used when there is a high risk of local relapse, or when residual disease persists after surgery [8]. Also, in our case, postoperative radiotiotherapy was performed, due to proximity to the chest wall of mass.…”