Background: We examined the assumption in conventional teaching about metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) being an indolent type of disease.
Methods: A single center analysis of 105 cases of ACC was performed. Radiographs were reviewed and tumor response to chemotherapy was measured. Distant disease-free survival (DDFS) and time to death since distant metastases diagnosis were analyzed.
Results: Forty-two percent of the patients were diagnosed with distant metastases. DDFS showed significant negative associations with advanced T classification, N+ classification, solid type tumor, and positive surgical margins. Distant metastases (91%) developed in the first 5 years after presentation. Median distant metastatic survival was 13.8 months. The most frequent organ sited was the lung. Solid type ACC showed a preponderance for multiorgan metastases (17/28; 61%). Distant metastases seemed not to occur in case of clear surgical margins. Solid type ACC had a significant poorer survival after development of distant metastases.
Conclusion: Metastatic ACC is not always an indolent disease. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 456-463, 2017.
Keywords: adenoid cystic carcinoma; distant metastases; head and neck; patterns of survival; solid type histology.
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.