Clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and survival outcomes of cystadenocarcinoma of the salivary gland: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and survival of cystadenocarcinoma of the salivary gland.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cases in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 1991 to 2012 were identified. Factors significantly associated with survival were identified using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression.

RESULTS: A total of 65 patients were identified; of these patients, 64 received surgical treatment, 25 underwent lymphadenectomy, and four (16.0%) patients had nodal metastasis and only one (2.1%) patient had poorly differentiated disease. The most common tumor location was the parotid gland (87.7%). The median follow-up was 55 months. None of the patients died of salivary gland malignant-tumor-related disease. The 5- and 10-year cause-specific survival rates were 97.0% and 81.4%, respectively. The 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 84.6% and 60.7%, respectively. Surgical procedures, lymphadenectomy, and adjuvant radiotherapy did not affect survival.

CONCLUSION: Salivary gland cystadenocarcinoma is extremely rare but has an excellent prognosis, and surgery is the mainstay of treatment.