Clinical aspects of tumors of the major salivary glands

UMORS OF SALIVARY-GLAND ORIGIN, because T of their many controversial features, continue to hold the interest of many clinicians and pathologists. The complex histological picture exhibited by many of these tumors has in the past aroused considerable speculation concerning their histogenesis, and this is largely responsible for the popular designation of the commonest forms as “mixed tumors.” No generally accepted histological classification of salivary-gland tumors has been established. The absence of this has hampered the clinician in his efforts to interpret the wide variations in clinical behavior and response to therapy. Recent studies at Memorial Hospitall0 have emphasized the necessity for correlation of the microscopic picture with the clinical course of large groups of tumors that could be followed for long periods of time. The present review is the report of twenty years’ experience (1930 to 1949) on the Head and Neck Service of the Memorial Center in the treatment of tumors of the major salivary glands. Definition. The term “tumor of the major salivary glands” is employed to designate neoplasms that are primary in one of the three paired salivary glands, i.e., the parotid, submaxillary, or sublingual salivary glands. A distinction is thus made from tumors of similar microscopic structure that arise from the innumerable, minute, mucus-secreting glands that are normally located throughout the oral cavity and upper air passages. Also excluded horn this definition are inflammatory lesions, lipomas, cysts, angiomas, Hodgkin’s disease, lymphomas, metastatic tumors, and the inde-