Increasing Trends in Mortality Rate Among Salivary Gland Tumors in Non-Geriatric African Americans

BACKGROUND: The treatment of salivary gland tumors has not changed significantly in the past two decades. However, the increase in the geriatric population with these tumors poses a new challenge for their management. This study explores the incidence-based mortality trends in the geriatric and non-geriatric population for the time period of 2000 - 2014 and compares the trends between races. METHODS: Mortality data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Database for the years 2000 - 2014. Incidence-based mortality for all stages of salivary gland tumors was queried and the results were grouped by age (geriatric vs. non-geriatric determined as 65 vs. below 65 years of age) and race (Caucasian/White, African American/Black, American Indian/Alaskan native and Asian/Pacific Islander). All stages and both genders were included in the analysis. T-test was used to determine statistically significant difference between various subgroups. Linearized trend lines were used to visualize the mortality trends between various subgroups (geriatric vs. non-geriatric and Caucasian vs. African American). RESULTS: Incidence-based mortality for salivary gland tumors has worsened since 2000 to 2014 for both geriatric and non-geriatric patients (P < 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between these two groups in both Caucasian/White patients and African American/Black patients. Notably, the worst incidence-based mortality rates were noted in African American/Black non-geriatric patients followed by Caucasian/White non-geriatric patients. However, there was no statistical difference in incidence-based mortality between Caucasian/White patients and African American/Black geriatric patients. CONCLUSIONS: The similarity in incidence-based mortality for geriatric patients with salivary gland tumors in both Caucasian/White patients and African American/Black groups suggests that the effects of race may not be pronounced in the elderly population. The high rate of incidence-based mortality in African American/Black non-geriatric patients may suggest environmental influence and warrants further study.