Clinicopathological features and outcomes of major salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma: do they vary in different age groups

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to analyze clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of age stratification for in patients with major salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MSG-MEC). METHODS: MSG-MEC patients were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database between 2010 and 2014. We examined the clinicopathological variables using Chi-squared tests. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the effects of each variable on survival. RESULTS: A total of 729 patients were analyzed. Younger patients tended to be female and present with low grade disease and less-advanced N classification (P<0.05). In multivariate analyses, the patients aged 5–19 had better survival rates, and the risk of death became higher with increasing age. Compared to patients aged 80–95-years-old, the hazard ratios for patients aged 5–19, 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69 and 70–79 years old were 0.000 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.000–>1,000), 0.187 (95% CI: 0.041–0.854), 0.172 (95% CI: 0.039–0.771), 0.006 (95% CI: 0.010–0.361), 0.310 (95% CI: 0.140–0.685), 0.541 (95% CI: 0.261–1.121) and 0.440 (95% CI: 0.230–0.840), respectively. Subgroups analysis shows that the effect of advancing age was significantly associated with a higher risk of poor survival in Caucasian who harbored N0 classification (P<0.001), non-metastatic disease (P<0.001) or received surgery (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Younger patients tended to be female and present with low grade disease and less-advanced N classification. The risk of death became higher with increasing age. However, when considering patients affected by more aggressive disease, age was not significantly associated with higher risk of dying from MSG-MEC. In high-risk patients, tumor characteristics rather than age should be considered when making treatment decisions.