Clinical and histological malignancy of adenoid cystic carcinoma

The authors report on 25 cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck region. The tumours were divided into 4 histological malignancy groups. Treatment generally consisted of surgery performed with as large a margin as possible, in combination with split course million volt therapy, about 6,000 rads, usually given preoperatively. It was found that the patients in the groups of lower malignancy generally managed for a comparatively long time without a clinically demonstrable recurrence, while the patients in the groups of higher malignancy relapsed rather quickly and often had metastases. The patients in the groups of higher malignancy also died relatively soon after the histological tumour preparations.