Epidemiology and treatment of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the minor salivary glands: a meta-analytic study.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the epidemiological aspects of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and to evaluate the different therapeutic possibilities as well as the percentage of survival. STUDY DESIGN A retrospective, meta-analytic, observational study was carried out by selecting a total of 13 articles, which provided a sample size of 263 cases of patients who had been diagnosed with ACC in the minor salivary glands. RESULTS ACC was found to be more common among women (56.5%) and the average age at diagnosis was 55.26 years old. The primary location of the tumor was in the palate in 57% of the cases, the predominant pattern being cribiform. The treatment of choice was therapy combined with surgery and radiotherapy in 62.7% of the subjects. The overall survival rate was 70.76% and 56.76%, at 5 and 10 years respectively. CONCLUSIONS Early detection of adenoid cystic carcinoma is necessary in order to enable making an earlier prognosis and thus enable a better quality of life for the patient.