Clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and survival outcomes of cystadenocarcinoma of the salivary gland: a population-based study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, and survival of cystadenocarcinoma of the salivary gland. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cases in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 1991 to 2012 were identified. Factors significantly associated with survival were identified using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression. RESULTS: A total of 65 patients were identified; of these patients, 64 received surgical treatment, 25 underwent lymphadenectomy, and four (16.0%) patients had nodal metastasis and only one (2.1%) patient had poorly differentiated disease. The most common tumor location was the parotid gland (87.7%). The median follow-up was 55 months. None of the patients died of salivary gland malignant-tumor-related disease. The 5- and 10-year cause-specific survival rates were 97.0% and 81.4%, respectively. The 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 84.6% and 60.7%, respectively. Surgical procedures, lymphadenectomy, and adjuvant radiotherapy did not affect survival. CONCLUSION: Salivary gland cystadenocarcinoma is extremely rare but has an excellent prognosis, and surgery is the mainstay of treatment.