Management of nasopharyngeal adenoid cystic carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal adenoid cystic carcinomas (NACCs) are rare. No clear consensus is available regarding clinical characteristics and management approaches. The aim of this study was to summarize the clinical characteristics and evaluate the management approaches of NACC.

The experience of 1 institution with this tumor and the outcomes of treatment were examined. The medical records of 36 patients with NACC at 1 institution from 1963 through 2006 were reviewed.

After a median follow-up of 65.8 months (1.8 to 245.2 mo), the 5- and 10-year overall survival, locoregional failure-free survival, and distant metastasis failure-free survival rates were 70.2% and 31.6%, 63.4% and 49.1%, and 65.0% and 59.6%, respectively. No significant differences were found in locoregional failure-free survival, distant metastasis failure-free survival, or overall survival rates between the group that received radiotherapy alone and the group that received combined modality therapy (radiotherapy plus surgery or surgery plus radiotherapy).

NACC is a malignancy with a generally favorable prognosis. Radiotherapy alone or a combined modality therapy (radiotherapy plus surgery or surgery plus radiotherapy) is effective in the treatment of NACC.