Clinicopathological characteristics and perineural invasion in adenoid cystic carcinoma: a systematic review()()

INTRODUCTION: Adenoid cystic carcinoma is the most frequent malignant tumor of the submandibular gland and the minor salivary glands. It is a malignant neoplasm that, despite its slow growth, shows an unfavorable prognosis. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review of the literature on Adenoid cystic carcinoma in the head and neck region and its clinicopathological characteristics, with emphasis on the perineural invasion capacity of the tumor. METHODS: A systematic search of articles published between January 2000 and January 2014 was performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE, SciELO, Science Direct, and Scopus databases. RESULTS: Nine articles were selected for this systematic review. These demonstrated that the female gender was more often affected and that malignant tumors showed a high rate of distant metastasis, recurrence, and a low survival rate. The presence of perineural invasion ranged from 29.4% to 62.5% and was associated with local tumor recurrence. CONCLUSION: Adenoid cystic carcinoma is commonly characterized by the presence of pain, high rate of recurrence, metastasis, and a low survival rate. Reporting studies with patient follow-up is of utmost importance for a better clinical-pathological understanding and to improve the prognosis of this pathology.