Cancer of the minor salivary glands of the larynx

Minor salivary gland carcinomas of the larynx are rare and few large series have been reported from a single institution. Eighteen patients were treated for this disease at M.D. Anderson Hospital between 1944 and 1982. Of these, 8 patients had adenoid cystic carcinoma and 10 had poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Characteristically these tumors presented as predominantly submucosal masses in the supraglottic or subglottic regions. Surgery was the primary treatment modality used in most cases. The average 2 and 5 year survival rates for patients with this disease were 70.6 percent and 42.8 percent, respectively. Although the 5 year survival rates were comparable between the adenocarcinoma and cystic carcinoma groups, adenocarcinoma was a more rapidly lethal disease than adenoid cystic carcinoma. Salvage after recurrence was seldom possible, although local and regional control could usually be achieved. Distant metastases remain the principal cause of treatment failure.