Outcomes of Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Major Salivary Glands Treated by Surgery With or Without Postoperative Radiotherapy

PurposeTo discuss the outcomes of primary squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the major salivary glands treated by surgery with or without postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy.Materials and MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of 579 cases with malignancy originating in the major salivary glands. A total of 34 cases were eligible for the present study. The outcomes were analyzed in terms of disease failure patterns and survival rates between the 2 treatment groups.ResultsThe treatment was surgery alone in 16 patients and a combination of surgery and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy in 18. The locoregional recurrence rate was 43.8% in the surgery group and 22.2% in the surgery plus radiotherapy group. The distant metastasis rate was 6.3% in the surgery group and 44.4% in the surgery plus radiotherapy group. The 5-year disease-specific survival and disease-free survival (DFS) rate for all patients was 50.3% and 35.3%, respectively. The 5-year disease-specific survival rate was 48.9% in the surgery group and 48.2% in the surgery plus radiotherapy group. The 5-year DFS rate was 25.0% in the surgery group and 31.2% in the surgery plus radiotherapy group. The log-rank test showed no significant differences in the disease-specific survival or DFS rates between the 2 groups (P = .724 for disease-specific survival and P = .269 for DFS).ConclusionPlanned postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy is anticipated to be able to improve locoregional control rates and DFS for patients with primary SCC of the major salivary glands.