title: The facial nerve in parotid malignancy.
abstract: A retrospective study of patients with parotid malignancies who received their primary definitive treatment at the Mayo Clinic was carried out with respect to the effect of sparing the facial nerve. On the basis of this study, it appears that sparing the facial nerve in malignant tumors is reasonable when the tumors are less than 3 cm in size, the exception being when the nerve penetrates the tumor. A more radical approach is necessary for larger tumors. The place of adjunctive radiation therapy is unclear at the present time.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000601:surgery; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011878:Radiotherapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies