title: Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck--An update.
abstract: This article provides an update on the current understanding of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck, including a review of its epidemiology, clinical behavior, pathology, molecular biology, diagnostic workup, treatment and prognosis. Adenoid cystic carcinoma is an uncommon salivary gland tumor that may arise in a wide variety of anatomical sites in the head and neck, often with an advanced stage at diagnosis. The clinical course is characterized by very late recurrences; consequently, clinical follow-up should extend at least >15 years. The optimal treatment is generally considered to be surgery with postoperative radiotherapy to optimize local disease control. Much effort has been invested into understanding the tumor's molecular biological processes, aiming to identify patients at high risk of recurrence, in hopes that they could benefit from other, still unproven treatment modalities such as chemotherapy or biological therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coca-Pelaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain; Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias, University of Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Nottingham University Hospitals, Queens Medical Centre Campus, Nottingham, UK; European Salivary Gland Society, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: European Salivary Gland Society, Geneva, Switzerland; Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Department of Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vander Poorten
authors.affiliation: Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Asterios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Triantafyllou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Primož
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strojan
authors.affiliation: University of Udine School of Medicine, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rinaldo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Missak
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haigentz
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Takes
authors.affiliation: University of Udine School of Medicine, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Vanni
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mondin
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teymoortash
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Woodland Hills Medical Center, Woodland Hills, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lester D R
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: University of Udine School of Medicine, Udine, Italy. Electronic address: a.ferlito@uniud.it.
authors.forename: Alfio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferlito
mesh_terms: D003528:Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis
keywords: Adenoid cystic carcinoma; Head and neck cancer; Molecular biology; Pathology; Prognosis; Salivary gland