Mixed tumors of salivary glands

Abstract

A long-term follow-up study of the behavior of mixed tumors of salivary gland origin was undertaken in order to determine the recurrence rate and to see if a particular histologic pattern was related to recurrence. The first 100 mixed tumors accessioned at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), after January 1, 1945, were analyzed, and follow-up information was obtained on 89. Seventy-eight of these patients were men, and 11 were women. By race, 75 were Caucasians, nine were Negroes, one was Mongoloid, and, in four instances, the race was unstated. The most frequently affected gland was the parotid, with 74 mixed tumors. Thirty-nine of the patients had one to five recurrences, establishing a recurrence rate of 43.8%. This high recurrence rate is most probably due to inadequate initial surgical procedure. The histologic characteristic encountered most frequently in the recurrent tumors was a myxoid stroma.