Management of the neck in salivary gland carcinoma

Major salivary gland malignancies are rare. Treatment of the primary tumor involves resection with or without postoperative radiation therapy. When there is clinical neck disease, neck dissection is performed to remove gross disease. Treatment of the N0 neck is controversial. Most centers treat the high-risk patient and perform either elective neck dissection or elective neck irradiation to eradicate residual occult disease.