Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland

We describe 15 patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands treated by radiotherapy from 1960 to 1978. All patients were treated for localized disease either definitively or after surgical resection. The site of origin and local tumor extensions are reviewed and the results of treatment analyzed. Eighty-three percent of the tumors were controlled by combined treatment (surgery and postoperative radiotherapy) for one to ten years, 80% for more than five years. In the latter group, seven of ten patients had tumors with poor prognostic features. Eighteen patients treated by surgery alone have been reviewed for comparative five-year recurrence rates. This group and similar groups reported in the literature have higher recurrence rates at five years. Two patients treated definitively by radiotherapy have had tumor control for four years. This series and other reports demonstrate that adenoid cystic carcinoma is amenable to control by radiotherapy. Elective postoperative radiotherapy may assist in diminishing the high recurrence rates and improve survival.