Myoepithelial carcinoma of the salivary glands: behavior and management

To investigate the biological behavior and proper management of myoepithelial carcinomas of salivary glands Methods Twenty seven cases of myoepithelial carcinoma of salivary glands were retrospectively studied and their detailed clinical and follow up data were presented Results The subjects consisted of 17 men and 10 women aged 16 to 73 years (mean age: 51 years) The parotid gland was the most common site (n=14) of cancer Clinical features included extensive local growth, invasion of the surrounding tissues, infrequent cervical lymph node metastasis but high rates of distant metastasis, frequent/multiple recurrences and poor prognosis Conclusions Myoepithelial carcinomas of the salivary gland should be classified as high grade malignancies Early and radical surgery with close follow up are essential for achieving favorable outcomes Radiotherapy appears to be non sensitive and elective neck dissection is generally unnecessary