Outcomes in Minor Salivary Gland Tumors-A 20+ Year Tertiary-Care Center Experience.

Objective: Minor salivary gland carcinomas are challenging to study due to their rarity and heterogeneity. We aim to further characterize clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcomes over 20 years within a single institution.
Study Design: Retrospective chart review was conducted on 210 patients who received primary treatment for minor salivary gland malignancy from 2000 to 2022.
Setting: Single tertiary-care center.
Methods: Multivariable Cox proportional hazards method was used to examine the relationship between pre-determined clinically important variables and outcomes.
Results: Five-year overall survival was 77.8% (72.0-84.1). Advanced clinical T stage portended over a 2 times higher risk of death and recurrence. High pathologic grade was associated with a near 3 times higher risk of death and recurrence. There was a predominance of occult nodal metastases in level II for oral cavity and oropharynx site tumors.
Conclusion: Clinical T stage and grade were important for overall survival, local, regional, and distant recurrence-free survival. Occult nodal metastases occurred most often in level II.
Competing Interests: SAK receives research funding from Merck, BMS, Regeneron, and Castle Biosciences and consultant fees from Merck, Regeneron, and Castle Biosciences. He receives Honoraria from Uptodate. All other authors deny any conflict of interest.
(© 2024 The Author(s). OTO Open published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.)