HWN Suggests

The evolving landscape of salivary gland tumors

Salivary gland tumors are a heterogenous grouping of different histologies in which surgery is generally the preferred initial treatment for localized disease. Therefore, patients who are diagnosed with SGC should be managed in a multidisciplinary fashion at centers that have expertise in this relatively uncommon tumor type. Despite the rarity of the disease, significant work is underway for SGCs with the goal being to improve treatments for our patients.

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Articles of Interest

Doctors May Have Found Secretive New Organs in the Center of Your Head

They appear to be a fourth pair of large salivary glands, tucked into the space where the nasal cavity meets the throat.

Experience: I can’t smile

My cancer, an aggressive tumour on the salivary glands, was diagnosed in early 2015. I’d first noticed the lump the previous summer, but tests proved inconclusive. It took a deep-tissue biopsy in January to confirm that it was cancerous. Because of where it was – and because it had been there for about 18 months – there was a good chance the cancer would be embedded in the nerves. The surgeon said he might need to cut those to remove the lump, in effect paralysing that side of my face. He wouldn’t know until I was under the knife.

Is Saliva the Next Frontier in Cancer Detection?

Scientists are finding tumor signals in spit that could be key to developing diagnostic tests for various types of cancer

Salivary gland cancer: 9 things to know

Unless a salivary gland cancer is widely metastatic, the majority of patients with high-grade (or more aggressive) tumors are treated with surgery and radiation therapy. Low-grade (or less aggressive) cancers usually only need surgery.

Salivary Gland Cancer: As Rare As It Is Diverse

Salivary gland cancers are as diverse as they are rare. “There are many differences in salivary gland cancers,” says Dr. Ashok Shaha, the Jatin P. Shah Chair in Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “The greatest variation in human cancers is probably in salivary gland tumors. And the more we look into the basic differentiation of these cells, the more different names for them keep coming up.”

The Therapeutic Landscape of Salivary Gland Malignancies—Where Are We Now?

Salivary gland malignancies (SGMs) account for less than 5% of new diagnoses in head and neck tumors. If feasible, surgery is the preferred treatment modality. Nevertheless, some malignancies have a tendency of recurrence, with possible distant metastasis. Alternative treatment strategies, such as primary radiation or chemotherapeutics, often present low response rates. As a result, there is an unmet need for novel therapeutic approaches. Nowadays, target-based therapies (e.g., small inhibitors and immunotherapy) are used by the medical oncologist for possible treatment of advanced SGMs.

Unmasked, Cancer Survivors Face The Symbol Of Their Torture

Every 15 minutes, for 10 hours a day, another patient walks into the radiation room at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. Each picks up a plastic mesh mask, walks to a machine, and lies down on the table underneath. Nurses fit the mask over the patient's face and shoulders. And then they snap it down.

Resources

Salivary Gland Cancer UK

We’re a charity for those with rare salivary gland cancers such as Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. Our aim? To build an information and support network for people affected by, or treating, these conditions.

Cancer Research UK

Salivary gland cancer can start in any of the glands that make spit (saliva). As well as 3 major pairs of salivary glands we have over 600 smaller, minor salivary glands throughout the lining of the mouth and throat.