Salivary Gland Tumors: Clinicopathologic analysis of 73 cases

Background: Salivary gland tumors are uncommon and constitute a highly heterogeneous histopathologic group of neoplasms. This retrospective study was done to investigate the clinicopathological profile, frequency, and distribution of salivary gland tumors in rural health care set-up in India. Study Design: The data was retrieved from the archival section of department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Rural Dental College, Loni, Maharashtra, India. All cases diagnosed as salivary gland tumors from January, 2001 to December, 2012 were included in the study. Results: A total of 73 Salivary gland tumors were diagnosed over a period of 12 years representing a frequency of 3.38% from 2156 biopsy samples. Malignant tumors (56.16%) predominated over benign tumors (43.83%), with an age range of 16-76 years (mean 46.2 years). Pleomorphic adenoma was the most frequent benign tumor (41.09%) while mucoepidermoid carcinoma (58.53%) was the most frequent malignant tumor. Overall sex distribution was almost equal (1:1.15). Palate was the most favored site amongst minor salivary glands while parotid gland was commonly affected major salivary gland. Intraosseous tumors were also noticed and all were malignant salivary gland tumors. Conclusion: The data discussed in this study was consistent with other hospital based studies with respect to age, sex, site, clinical presentation, and histopathological variants of salivary glands tumors.