Introduction: Acinic cell carcinoma is a rare salivary gland neoplasm frequently associated with local recurrence. While distal metastasis occurs in approximately 19% of cases, intracranial metastasis has been rarely reported in the literature and both preoperative patient characteristics and postoperative prognoses are not currently well-characterized.
Methods:In this study, we conducted a systematic review of all relevant studies in the Pubmed database and presented a case series of salivary gland acinic cell carcinomas with intracranial metastasis found in the literature. All relevant studies were reviewed, and information related to the number of patient(s) described, their sex and age, presenting symptoms, location of metastasis, treatment, and time intervals from initial diagnosis and intracranial metastasis and from treatment for intracranial metastasis to last reported follow-up were recorded.Results: Seven studies matching the inclusion criteria were included for data collection and further analysis. The mean age of presentation was 48.9 ± 11.9 years, with intracranial metastasis occurring, on average, 8.7 ± 10.3 years following the initial diagnosis of acinic cell carcinoma. All patients with reported treatment modalities received either surgical resection and/or radiation therapy. The minimum postoperative follow-up for these patients occurred at 11 months, with no postoperative deaths reported in any cases previously published in the literature.
Conclusion:Parotid acinic cell carcinoma is a frequently recurring salivary gland neoplasm with metastatic potential, often many years following initial diagnosis. Though intracranial metastasis has only rarely been reported in the literature and associated with increased management complexity, patients demonstrate a positive prognosis following treatment.