Volumetric Growth Rate of Recurrent Pleomorphic Adenoma

Surgery for recurrent pleomorphic adenoma (PA) can be challenging and may increase the risk of operative complications, particularly facial nerve weakness. As observation may be a viable alternative to surgery for slow-growing tumors, our objective was to assess the growth rate of recurrent PAs.

This study is a case series of patients at our tertiary academic medical center with recurrent PA. Two magnetic resonance images (MRI) were compared; total volume (TV) of recurrent tumor on both studies was calculated to obtain our main outcomes of percent change in TV and tumor growth rate.

Fourteen patients with recurrent PA had a median interval time between MRI of 12.8 months. Though growth rates were variable, the median continuous compound growth per year was 10.2%. Notably, 3 patients (21%) had no growth, and 2 patients (14%) had a reduction in TV.

The median growth rate for enlarging tumors is estimated at 10.2% per year. Due to variability, tumor growth rate should be estimated on an individual patient basis. For slow-growing tumors, physicians may weigh the risk of this slow growth with the morbidity of reoperation.