title: Surgical treatment of salivary malignant tumors.
abstract: Salivary gland malignant tumors (SGMT) are of key interest for head and neck surgeons since surgery with adjuvant radiotherapy is considered the treatment of choice in most of the cases. Some factors, namely rarity, high histologic heterogeneity, and possible occurrence in all the head and neck subsites, contribute to make this topic very controversial; some unclear aspects pertain surgical treatment. When dealing with major salivary gland malignant tumors (MaSGMT), the most debated issues remain the extent of surgery and management of facial nerve. In minor salivary gland malignant tumors (MiSGMT), conversely, surgical planning is influenced by the specific pattern of growth of the different neoplasms as well as the site of origin of the lesion. Finally, two additional issues, the treatment of the neck (therapeutic or elective) and reconstructive strategy after ablative surgery, are of pivotal importance in management of both MaSGMT and MiSGMT. In this review, we discuss the most relevant and controversial issues concerning surgery of SGMT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: davinter@libero.it.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lombardi
authors.affiliation: Guys and St. Thomas NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McGurk
authors.affiliation: Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and Department of Oncology, Section Head and Neck Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; European Salivary Gland Society, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vander Poorten
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guzzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Accorona
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rampinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nicolai
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: Malignant tumor; Minor salivary gland; Neck; Parotid; Sublingual gland; Submandibular gland; Surgery