Myoepithelial carcinoma of the salivary glands: behavior and management.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the biological behavior and proper management of myoepithelial carcinomas of salivary glands.


METHODS
Twenty-seven cases of myoepithelial carcinoma of salivary glands were retrospectively studied and their detailed clinical and follow-up data were presented.


RESULTS
The subjects consisted of 17 men and 10 women aged 16 to 73 years (mean age: 51 years). The parotid gland was the most common site (n = 14) of cancer. Clinical features included extensive local growth, invasion of the surrounding tissues, infrequent cervical lymph node metastasis but high rates of distant metastasis, frequent/multiple recurrences and poor prognosis.


CONCLUSIONS
Myoepithelial carcinomas of the salivary gland should be classified as high-grade malignancies. Early and radical surgery with close follow-up are essential for achieving favorable outcomes. Radiotherapy appears to be non-sensitive and elective neck dissection is generally unnecessary.
Yu
Guangyan
G
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Peking University School of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China.
Ma
Daquan
D
Sun
Kaihua
K
Li
Tiejun
T
Zhang
Ye
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009208:Myoepithelioma / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*