Published in:
01-03-2012 | Head and Neck Cancer (T Day, Section Editor)
Recurrent Salivary Gland Cancer
Authors:
M. Boyd Gillespie, MD, MSc, W. Greer Albergotti, BS, David W. Eisele, MD
Published in:
Current Treatment Options in Oncology
|
Issue 1/2012
Login to get access
Opinion statement
Salivary gland cancer is the most diverse cancer in the body consisting of up to 24 different pathologic subtypes. Although these cancers arise within a common group of glands in the head and neck region, these diverse cancers differ substantially in clinical behavior. As a result, salivary cancers are often categorized as low, intermediate, or high-risk for recurrence and metastasis based on histopathologic subtype and tumor stage. Appropriate risk classification of a given salivary tumor provides a useful guide to the physicians who determine the appropriate treatment regimen. Low-risk tumors can be treated successfully with surgery alone, whereas intermediate and high-risk tumors often require multimodality therapy. Recurrent salivary cancer should be considered high-risk by definition, especially if previously treated with appropriate therapy, and therefore requires aggressive multimodality therapy in order to achieve adequate local control and disease-free survival.