Survival benefit for adjuvant radiation therapy in minor salivary gland cancers.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of the current study is to investigate the role of adjuvant radiation therapy (adjuvant RT) in minor salivary gland tumors (mSGT) using an established national database.

METHODS

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was used to identify patients treated with or without adjuvant RT for mSGT from 1988 to 2008. Regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with improved overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

Most tumors were located within the oral cavity (75%) followed by nasal cavity/paranasal sinuses (15%). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that adjuvant RT was associated with better OS compared to surgery alone. Using logistic regression analysis, we provide a novel web based tool for predicting survival impact of adjuvant RT in patients with mSGT.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjuvant RT is associated with improved survival in patients with mSGT and adverse clinicopathologic factors such as advanced T/N category, adenoid cystic histology, high grade, and nasopharynx location.