Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Trachea

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is very rare, with an incidence of 0.1 to 0.26 per one lakh people. It is the second most common primary malignancy of the trachea. The etiology, clinical manifestation and prognosis of ACC trachea in Indian scenario has not been discussed so far. We evaluated the clinical presentation, treatment and follow up details of six patients with ACC of trachea, who were treated in our Institute from January, 2006 to October,2014. Cough with expectoration, exertional dyspnoea and haemoptysis were the most frequent presentations. Proximal trachea was involved in five patients with lesion extending to subglottis in two patients. The male: female ratio was equal and most patients presented in the 4th decade of their life. Two patients were treated with total laryngectomy with proximal tracheal resection, two with tracheal resection and anastomosis and one with window resection. Four patients who were treated surgically received post operative radiation. One patient with inoperable disease was treated with radical radiotherapy. All the patients are doing well with a median follow up period of 42.8 months.