Lymphomas of the salivary glands: a systematic review

Lymphomas constitute 2% of all salivary gland tumors and are the second most common group of malignancies in the head and neck region.

In this systematic review, the demographics and characteristics of salivary gland lymphomas are presented.

All types of studies that involve data of salivary gland lymphomas between 1990 and 2020 were identified and screened.

A total of 169 articles with 1640 patients were identified. The median age of the patients was 59 years with a range between 10 and 87 years. The anatomic locations of salivary gland lymphomas were distributed with 88% in the parotid glands, 9% in the submandibular glands, 1% in the minor salivary glands, and 0.3% in the sublingual glands. The overall survival at 12 months is high and in line with the outcome of indolent lymphomas in general. The predominant indolent subtypes were extranodal marginal zone lymphomas and follicular lymphomas, whereas the more aggressive subtypes were mainly diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, mantle cell lymphomas, and T-cell lymphomas.

In conclusion, lymphomas occur in all salivary glands and mainly in elderly female patients. Sjögren's syndrome is frequently associated. Depending on the anatomical location, the lymphoma subtypes vary in aggressiveness, stage, and prognosis.