Salivary gland tumors: Retrospective audit and diagnostic evaluation of 163 Cases

Introduction: - The salivary glands are exocrine glands responsible for the production, modification, and secretion of saliva into the oral cavity. Salivary gland tumors account for approximately 5% of all malignancies located in the head and neck region and represent between 0.5% and 13.5% of the total malignancies in the human body, with a reported annual incidence of 0.5 to 2 cases per 100,000 individuals.

Methods: - A six-year retrospective analysis of 163 cases involving salivary gland neoplasms among patients who sought treatment at the oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic, as well as the outpatient facility of the Ear, Nose, and Throat (E.N.T.) department. Data retrieved are demographic information such as age, sex, duration of the salivary gland tumor at initial presentation, tumor localization, and the specific histopathological types of the tumors diagnosed and the FNAC reports of individual patients Analysed.

Result: - Categorical variables were analysed as frequencies and percentages, while quantitative variables were assessed by using chi-square analysis and the significance was inferred at 0.05. The mean age of the subjects was 40.7(±20.6) for both benign (72.4%) and malignant (27.6%) cases. Females represent the predominant demographic in both benign 69(58.5%) and malignant cases 49(55.6%) observed. Among the benign tumors, pleomorphic adenoma accounts for the highest incidence rate, comprising 61.9% of diagnosed cases and occurred more in 3rd to 4th decade of life, whereas both mucoepidermoid carcinoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma demonstrate a closely aligned incidence with 15(33.3%) and 14 (31.1%), respectively. submandibular gland reveals the greatest frequency of malignant neoplasms, particularly adenoid cystic carcinoma at 7(10.1%) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma at 5(7.3%) cases. A statistically significant difference is evident when analysing the histological classification of neoplasms. Fine needle aspiration and cytological evaluation of 123 cases exhibits a sensitivity of 92.9% and specificity of 97.6%. for the research study. Statistical significance difference is also observed between the histopathological diagnosis of the salivary gland tumors (SGTs) and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) (P=0.001).

Conclusion: - The variation in the geographic distribution of salivary glands is similar to documentation in literature; the parotid gland was identified as the most frequently affected gland, with a higher prevalence observed in the female population within the study. A significant proportion of cases that originated from the major salivary glands were classified as benign, whereas the majority of minor salivary gland tumors (SGTs) were determined to be malignant.