Benign and Malignant Salivary Gland Tumors - Clinical and Demographic Characteristics.

AIM

To examine the demographic, ethnic, and clinical characteristics of salivary benign and malignant tumors for better etiological understanding.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We examined medical records of 287 primary salivary gland tumor patients.

RESULTS

Overall, 216 tumors were benign and 71 malignant. The mean age at diagnosis was 56.4 years for those with malignant tumors and 48.5 years for those with benign, a highly significant difference (p=0.001). Females had 45% of malignant tumors and 59% of benign, a significant difference (p=0.037). Ethnic origin, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking rates were not significantly different (p>0.05) between groups. A total of 87% of benign and 55% of malignant tumors were in the parotid glands, a highly significant predilection (p<0.0001), sublocated mostly in the superfacial lobe; 36.6% of malignant tumors and 4.7% of benign (p<0.0001) were in the minor salivary glands, mostly in the hard palate.

CONCLUSION

Baseline clinical, demographic and locational aspects of benign and malignant tumors are substantiated.