Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck--An update

Andrés Coca-Pelaz; Juan P Rodrigo; Patrick J Bradley; Vincent Vander Poorten; Asterios Triantafyllou; Jennifer L Hunt; Primož Strojan; Alessandra Rinaldo; Missak Haigentz Jr; Robert P Takes; Vanni Mondin; Afshin Teymoortash; Lester D R Thompson; Alfio Ferlito

doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2015.04.005

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck--An update

Oral Oncol. 2015 Jul;51(7):652-61. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2015.04.005. Epub 2015 May 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.
² Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain; Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias, University of Oviedo, Spain.
³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Nottingham University Hospitals, Queens Medical Centre Campus, Nottingham, UK; European Salivary Gland Society, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ European Salivary Gland Society, Geneva, Switzerland; Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Department of Oncology, University Hospitals Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁵ Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
⁶ Department of Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
⁷ Department of Radiation Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
⁸ University of Udine School of Medicine, Udine, Italy.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
¹¹ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
¹² Department of Pathology, Woodland Hills Medical Center, Woodland Hills, CA, USA.
¹³ University of Udine School of Medicine, Udine, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 25943783
DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2015.04.005

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.

Keywords: Adenoid cystic carcinoma; Head and neck cancer; Molecular biology; Pathology; Prognosis; Salivary gland.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / epidemiology
Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / pathology*
Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / therapy
Head and Neck Neoplasms / epidemiology
Head and Neck Neoplasms / pathology*
Head and Neck Neoplasms / therapy
Humans
Prognosis