[Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the trachea. Case report and review of the literature on malignant tracheal tumors].

Primary tumours of the trachea are rare. In most cases one finds squamous cell carcinoma or adenoid cystic carcinoma. At the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität of Kiel only 19 malignant tumours of the trachea were diagnosed between 1949 and 1992 among a total of 6000 malignancies. In most cases the patients suffered from invasive thyroid carcinoma. Only five patients had a primary malignancy of the trachea (2 squamous cell carcinomas, 1 adenoid cystic carcinoma, 1 undifferentiated carcinoma, 1 solid, otherwise not classifiable carcinoma). Of these patients we report on the case of a 57-year old female patient who was diagnosed with an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the trachea and is free of disease eight years after open resection. Since initial symptoms are nonspecific emphasis is on the diagnostic process. The latest publications on therapeutic measures are reported.