Carcinoma of the parotid gland

Cancer of the parotid gland; long-term follow-up. A single centre experience on recurrence and survival

“…In several reviews [8Á10,20], it has been reported that tumour size, malignancy grade and extent of the tumour are major determinants predicting survival, which we also observed. Presence of lymph node metastases implies a larger risk of recurrence and worsens the prognosis in our study, as confirmed by others [6,8,10,11,16]. It is consistent with our findings that patients with more advanced disease have a much poorer outcome in terms of overall survival and recurrence rate.…”

“…This is in the lower range but comparable to the findings of others showing survival rates of 50Á81% [6,9,11,13,18,19]. In our study the median age was 65 years, which is higher than in most comparable studies, where the median age ranged between 50Á61 years [9,10,18Á20] except in a study by Kohl in which the median age was the same as in our study.…”

“…It is consistent with our findings that patients with more advanced disease have a much poorer outcome in terms of overall survival and recurrence rate. Nerve infiltration and facial palsy was associated with poorer outcome and poorer survival in our study as well as in a study by Zbären [6].…”

“…Most of them are older than 60 years at the time of diagnosis; however, these tumours can also affect younger individuals [4,5]. There is no proven gender predominance [6]. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is the most common tumour followed by adenocarcinoma, mixed type malignant tumour, adenoid cystic carcinoma, acinic cell carcinoma, undifferentiated and squamous cell carcinomas [1,2].…”

“…In cases where the facial nerve is surrounded by tumour, it has to be sacrificed. Radiotherapy has been used as a complement to surgery either preoperatively or, in most cases, postoperatively, for tumours with a high malignancy grade and/or advanced stage (IIIÁIV) [6,9,10]. For inoperable patients, radiotherapy has been the only treatment given.…”