Secretory Carcinoma of the Salivary Gland – Systematic Review of the Literature and Report of 2 Cases

Secretory carcinoma (SC) of the salivary gland, formerly known as mammary analogue secretory carcinoma, is an uncommon and fairly newly described low grade malignant neoplasm of the salivary gland. Given the small number of cases reported in the literature to date, treatment guidelines are scarce. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of SC, discuss prior management strategies, and provide recommendations for future treatment. We performed a systematic review of all the cases of SC reported in the literature since it was first recognized in 2010. Using Pubmed, Crossref, and Google Scholar, we identified all articles reporting cases of SC. We identified 657 cases of SC in 109 articles. In addition, we provided 2 new cases, for a total of 659 cases in 110 articles. To our knowledge, this is the largest review of cases of SC in the literature to date. We summarized the clinical characteristics of SC, as well as the nodal status, clinical management, recurrence rate, and death rate. SC occurs on average in middle age (with a large age range), presents most often initially as localized disease without metastasis, and has a low but not insignificant recurrence rate. Deaths have been reported. The generalized recommendations for treatment of SC are in line with those of other low-grade salivary gland malignancies.