Shahida Niazi, Madiha Arshad, Asifa Iqbal, Anum Jaffery, Mulazim H Bokhari.
The morphological spectrum of salivary gland tumours at KEMU and Mayo Hospital, Lahore.
Biomedica Jan ;29(1):1-11.

Objective: Salivary gland tumours constitute an important aspect of oral and maxillofacial pathology. The aim of this study was to classify and analyse the diverse spectrum of major and minor salivary gland tumours according to the revised WHO Classification (2005) of Salivary Gland Tumours (SGT). Materials and Methods: This was a 4 year descriptive cross – sectional study (from 1st July 2008 – 30th June 2012) on 259 salivary gland tumours reported at the Department of Pathology, King Edward Medical University, Lahore. Results: In a total of 259 salivary gland tumours, 162 tumours (62.54%) were classified as benign and 97 tumours (37.45%) as malignant. The male to female ratio was almost equal and patients ranged in age from 8 years to 80 years. Maximum number of tumours were diagnosed in the 3rd to 5th decade of life. The commonest benign SGT was pleomorphic adenoma PA which constituted a total of 146 cases (90.12%) followed far down in frequency by Warthin tumour which comprised of 8 cases (4.93%). The commonest malignant SGT was mucoepidermoid carcinoma which constituted 43 cases (44.32%) followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma constituting 30 cases (30.92%). A total of 200 tumours (77.22%) were reported in the major salivary glands of which 134 cases (67%) were classified as benign and 66 cases (33%) were malignant. The commonest benign tumour in the major salivary glands was pleomorphic adenoma constituting 118 cases (80.05%) out of 134 benign tumours and the commonest malignant tumour was mucoepidermoid carcinoma constituting 37 cases (56.06%) out of 66 malignant tumours. Fifty nine tumours (22.78%) were reported in the minor salivary glands of which 28 cases (47.45%) were benign and 31 cases (52.54%) were malignant. Pleomorphic adenoma was the sole benign tumour reported in the minor glands and adenoid cystic carcinoma was the commonest malignant tumour of minor salivary glands constituting 20 cases (64.51%) followed by mucoepidermoid carcinoma constituting 6 cases (19.35%). The palate constituted the commonest site of minor salivary gland tumours harbouring 35 cases (59.32%) followed by the lips containing 10 cases (16.94%). Other sites of minor salivary gland tumours included the buccal region (10.16%), pharynxgeal wall (5.08%), nasal cavity (3.39%), maxillary sinus (3.39%) and tongue (1.69%). Conclusion: In the major salivary glands, benign tumours are much more common than the malignant tumours with the parotid being the most common location of both benign and malignant tumours. The sublingual gland harbours only a minor fraction of salivary tumours of which malignant tumours are more common than the benign. In the minor salivary glands, malignant tumours outnumber the benign tumours and the palate constitutes the most common location of minor salivary gland tumours. In fact the palate harbours more tumours than the sub-mandibular and the sublingual glands thus constituting the 2nd most common site of salivary gland tumours after the parotid gland.

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