Salivary gland tumors in the parotid gland, submandibular gland, and the palate region

The relative incidence of the different types of salivary gland tumors and their prognoses has been shown to vary with the location in a study of 2,867 patients with tumors in the parotid gland, submandibular gland, and the palate region. After histologic reexamination and reclassification, 2,513 of the 2,867 tumors were classified as salivary gland tumors. The incidence of salivary gland tumors was strikingly high in the parotid gland, i.e., about twelve times more common in the parotid gland than in the submandibular gland. In all sites there was a striking predominance of pleomorphic adenoma, which altogether comprised 74% of the salivary gland tumors in the present series; the second largest group, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, only comprised 5%. The incidence of malignant salivary gland tumors was twice as high in the submandibular gland than in the parotid gland, but it was highest in the palate region. The prognosis for a given type of malignant tumor was most favorable when the primary tumor was located in the palate region, less favorable when it was in the parotid gland, and least favorable in the submandibular gland.