[Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck--a clinical study of 27 cases].

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is frequently seen in the salivary glands, but may occur at other sites in the head and neck. We report 27 patients with ACC treated at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Mie University School of Medicine, for 15 years. The survival rate dropped from 78% at five years to 36% at 10 years. This suggests that the long-term prognosis of ACC is poor. According to Batsakis, we classified ACC according to histopathology and emphasize that the solid cellular pattern had the worst prognosis.