Mucous Gland Tumours

THIS paper is an account of the clinical and pathological features and the response to treatment of 80 mucous gland tumours derived from sites other than the major salivary glands. Tumours similar to those met with in the parotid gland are also encountered, though less frequently, in the submaxillary and sublingual glands and in the minor salivary glands which are distributed throughout the oral tissues. More rarely still, growths of very similar histological appearance are seen in the nose, nasopharynx, pharynx, larynx and trachea where; of course, there are no salivary glands but where there are numerous mucous glands so similar in structure to the minor salivary glands that the tumours encountered may reasonably be assumed to arise from them. The tumours in all these situations form a coherent group, and though the parotid gland, their commonest site of origin, produces a purely serous secretion while the other glands produce serous, mucous or mixed secretions, the growths are generally brought together under the convenient, though strictly speaking inaccurate, general designation of " mucous gland tumours ". In any case, the tumours probably arise from the ducts of the glands and the precise nature of the secretion has no influence on their structure or behaviour. The prognosis for patients suffering from parotid tumours depends upon the method of treatment adopted, and figures quoted for recurrence rates vary widely. Following simple enucleation it is probable that a recurrence rate of 25 to 50 per cent may be expected, though better results are to be obtained from more radical procedures. With regard to tumours of the minor salivary and other mucous glands, precise figures are hard to come by, for the cases are rare and are usually reported in small groups or as single cases, and without waiting to see whether recurrence, which may be long delayed, will take place. Nevertheless, there is a general impression amongst pathologists and clinicians that the prognosis in these cases is worse than in cases of parotid tumour. From a study of the 80 tumours reported here, we hope to decide whether this is in fact the case, and if so, whether it is due to the anatomical sites of the tumours leading to special difficulties in treatment, or to differences in the incidence of histological sub-types. The 80