Review of salivary gland neoplasms

Salivary gland tumours most often present as painless enlarging masses. Most are located in the parotid glands and most are benign. The principal hurdle in their management lies in the difficulty in distinguishing benign from malignant tumours. Investigations such as fine needle aspiration cytology and MRI scans provide some useful information, but most cases will require surgical excision as a means of coming to a definitive diagnosis. Benign tumours and early low-grade malignancies can be adequately treated with surgery alone, while more advanced and high-grade tumours with regional lymph node metastasis will require postoperative radiotherapy. The role of chemotherapy remains largely palliative. This paper highlights some of the more important aspects in the management of salivary gland tumours.